ITV bosses are today (Wednesday 14th June) facing questions from MPs on the This Morning row at a session of the Culture, Media, and Sport Committee.
The broadcaster’s CEO Carolyn McCall said “we do not recognise that in This Morning” when asked about claims that there is “toxicity” behind the scenes of the long-running daytime show.
Complaints, McCall insists, are always taken seriously.
“What I know is that when we talk about culture it’s incredibly important to me, personally and so it deeply disappoints me, right? But we do not recognise that in This Morning and the reason for that is that we have tangible evidence to tell you that the vast majority of people at daytime and at This Morning are engaged.
‘That’s not to say we don’t take complaints about it seriously. We’ve had two complaints in five years about that issue. Both of them taken very seriously.”
She said one of the complaints involved Dr Ranj Singh, who was a regular contributor to This Morning. She said it was not upheld following a review by an external party.
The other was dealt with internally, she said.
On Saturday 20th May, Phillip Schofield announced that he had “stepped down” from This Morning amid reports of a rift with co-host Holly Willoughby. In the week that followed, he revealed his “unwise, but not illegal” affair with a young runner on the show, resigning in full from ITV.
Several stars, such as Dr Ranj and Eamonn Holmes, have since hit out at the show, claiming all is not rosy once the cameras stop rolling.
