Phillip Schofield interview: Alison Hammond breaks down on This Morning

This Morning presenter Alison Hammond has broken down live on the programme while reacting to the departure of ex-colleague Phillip Schofield.

Schofield told the BBC he feels his "career is over" following the affair he had with a young male colleague.

Speaking on Friday's show, Hammond said he had apologised and urged people not to judge his actions too harshly.

"I'm just finding it really painful because obviously I loved Phillip Schofield," she said.

"And it's weird because I still love Philip Schofield. However what he's done is wrong, he's admitted it, he's said sorry.

"But as a [TV] family we're all really struggling to process everything and I never know what to say."

She continued: "But I remember what my mum always said: 'Use your Bible as your Sat Nav in life Al', and in the Bible it says 'he without sin, cast the first stone'.

"And I just don't want to say anything bad because obviously I'm in conflict."

Schofield, 61, left the ITV show last week after he admitted lying about the affair with a male colleague, who he first met at the age of 15 and helped to get into the industry.

The network has asked a barrister to lead a review into its handling of the short-lived relationship.

This week, instead of its usual presenters Schofield and Holly Willoughby, This Morning has been fronted by Hammond alongside Dermot O'Leary.

O'Leary noted that "what Phil has done is wrong" but suggested, given the widespread coverage, there should now be concerns about his mental health. Schofield told the BBC that recent events had left him feeling suicidal.

"As a society, quite rightly we talk about mental health all the time but that can't be the preserve of people who are on the right side of history," said O'Leary.

Hammond added: "There's only so much a man can take, isn't there? And I don't want any death in this situation."

Schofield, who is married with two children, received an outpouring of support in 2020 after revealing he is gay.