Kerry Katona has accused Phillip Schofield of ‘belittling’ her in an infamous 2008 interview as she waded in on the ‘toxic’ culture at This Morning.
The TV personality, 42, broke her silence on the ongoing Phillip scandal while speaking to Dan Wootton on GB News on Wednesday evening.
She reflected on an infamous interview she did on This Morning back in 2008, which saw Phillip, 61, question her on her slurred speech live on air.
Kerry accused him of ‘belittling’ her and being ‘condescending’ with his comments and explained how her slurred speech was due to her bipolar medication.
She also claimed she was left suicidal following the TV appearance and criticised ITV for allegedly not reaching out to her following the car-crash interview.
Fuming: Kerry Katona has accused Phillip Schofield of ‘belittling’ her in an infamous 2008 interview as she waded in on the ‘toxic’ culture at This Morning
Hard time: She reflected on an infamous interview she did on This Morning back in 2008, which saw Phillip, 61, question her on her slurred speech live on air
Wading in on the ‘toxic’ culture on the breakfast show, Kerry said: ‘People don’t understand what that interview did to me emotionally.’
‘Even now, when I go back to ITV – which isn’t very often – there is a sense of snobbery and that I’m not good enough,’ she added. ‘I feel like I have to impress them, I’ve got to watch my speech, I can’t slur.’
Speaking about how the interview left her at ‘rock bottom’, Kerry said: ‘It was just awful. I was suicidal. I wanted to die, I wanted to kill myself. It was everywhere.’
Kerry, who has been sober for 14 years, alleged that nobody wanted to work with her following the interview as she discussed how it affected her everyday life.
Kerry broke down in tears as she explained how she still has to justify herself over the interview more than ten years later.
She tearfully said: ‘Even now, when I look at that video, I feel so ashamed and so hard done by, even now. For ten years, I’ve had to justify myself.’
‘I’ve got no reason to lie [about the medication], even today I have to justify myself for that interview,’ she added.
The infamous live 2008 interview saw Phillip question Kerry about her slurred speech and ask her if she was ‘OK’, despite her insistence it was due to her medication.
Unimpressed: Kerry accused him of ‘belittling’ her and being ‘condescending’ with his comments and explained how her slurred speech was due to her bipolar medication
Struggles: She also claimed she was left suicidal following the TV appearance and criticised ITV for allegedly not reaching out to her following the car-crash interview (pictured)
He asked her: ‘You don’t seem right to me sitting here now, your speech is a bit slurred, how are you feeling now?’
Kerry then insisted that she was absolutely fine and had never been healthier or happier as she explained it was due to her medication.
In her interview on GB News, Kerry went on to claim that she has met the younger This Morning colleague Phillip confessed to having an affair with.
She told how she met with him during her time on Loose Women, adding: ‘I met the young runner several times, lovely lad.’
MailOnline has contacted ITV for comment.
Last Friday, Phillip quit ITV and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to an affair with a young male This Morning colleague.
He confessed to having the ‘unwise but not illegal’ relationship with a man during his marriage to Stephanie Lowe, and previously denied the affair when asked about it by his agent.
The ‘unwise’ relationship took place during his nearly 30-year marriage to his wife Stephanie, 59, and Phillip said he was ‘so very sorry’ for being unfaithful.
Stephanie, who shares two kids Ruby, 27, and Molly, 29, with Phillip, issued a statement when her husband came out as gay in a moving This Morning segment in 2020.
In a statement, the former ITV presenter said: ‘I am making this statement via the Daily Mail, to whom I have already apologised personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story [sic] which they wanted to write about me a few days ago.
‘The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning.
‘I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.
‘Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than a just a friendship.
‘That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over…
‘I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife…
‘I am resigning from ITV with immediate effect, expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me.
‘I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it.’
Scandal: Kerry, who often appears on Loose Women, went on to claim that she has met the younger This Morning colleague Phillip confessed to having an affair with
Bombshell: Last Friday, Phillip quit ITV and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to an affair with a young male This Morning colleague
After his statement, an ITV spokesman said: ‘We are deeply disappointed by the admissions of deceit made tonight by Phillip Schofield.
‘The relationships we have with those we work with are based on trust. Philip made assurances to us which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down.
‘We accept his resignation from ITV and therefore can confirm that he will not be appearing on ITV as had previously been stated.’
Following his statement, Phillip has also parted company with his management team YMU after 35 years.
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