Phillip Schofield told "ITV needs him" by PR boss as This Morning's viewing figures continue to struggle

Disgraced television presenter Phillip Schofield is the only man who could save ITV’s flagship show This Morning, according to a PR boss. Schofield, who formerly hosted the show, left under a cloud of controversy after news broke of an affair with a younger male colleague.

Their relationship was described as “unwise but not illegal” by the presenter, who has been off-air for a year now. He has since stepped back from the public eye, rarely leaving his home and going silent on social media. But Edward Coram James, CEO of PR company Go Up, believes the 62-year-old will likely return to our screens sooner rather than later.

It comes as This Morning continues to struggle with viewership, to the extent that ITV executives have been forced to address rumours that the show is in trouble. Recent reports indicate that viewing numbers have halfed since new presenters Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley took the reins in March.

Speaking to the Mirror, James said: “If they are to stand even the slightest chance of remaining relevant, they will need all of the help and pulling power that they can get. Schofield has always proven himself to be popular. He's now proven himself to be flexible and disciplined. Attributes that will be absolutely crucial for the likes of ITV in the years ahead, and attributes that ITV showed a total lack of in the way that they handled the initial scandal. To put it simply, ITV needs Schofield a whole lot more than Schofield needs ITV.

“Having witnessed Schofield's handling of the fallout, there is every reason to believe that he could regain his moniker. The TV networks would be foolish to ignore it. If they are to stand even the slightest chance of remaining relevant, they will need all of the help and pulling power that they can get.

“Schofield managed not only to navigate his crisis with discipline, he managed to navigate it with kindness. Kindness to himself, and kindness to others. The kindness to himself came in him going offline. He did not need to see some of the vitriol being written on social media, and what better way to avoid such insults than to disengage entirely? And kindness to others. Even in his darkest hour, he avoided lending an unkind word, even to his most vocal detractors. As such, his brand may have lost a few feathers, but it's far from knocked out.”

In response to fears about This Morning’s viewing figures, an ITV spokesperson said: “This Morning continues to reach over four million viewers a week and remains one of the most streamed programmes on ITVX in 2024. The award-winning show has never had a better connection with viewers; with 11mfollowers across This Morning social media platforms and almost 130m video views of This Morning content each month, reaching an average of 62m unique social media accounts every month.”