TalkTV host Piers Morgan, who has become known for his continued criticism of Meghan Markle, has now taken to Twitter to say it’s “time to stop” the “relentless persecution” of former This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield following news of his affair with a younger male colleague. Schofield left the popular ITV daytime show in May, before going on to issue a second statement via the Daily Mail in which he revealed he had a “consensual on-off relationship” with the individual which was “unwise, but not illegal”. “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,” he said. Then, in his first broadcast interview following this statement with the BBC’s media editor Amol Rajan, he said he understood “how Caroline Flack felt”, referring to the late ITV presenter who died by suicide in February 2020 following intense tabloid coverage of her life. Schofield said: “Last week, if my daughters hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here. They guarded me and wouldn’t let me out of their sight. “It’s like a weird numbness. I know that’s a selfish point of view, but you come to a point where you just think, ‘how much are you supposed to take? Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “If you don’t think that is going to have the most catastrophic effect on someone’s mind… Do you want me to die?” Sharing his thoughts on the ongoing scandal, Morgan tweeted on Friday: “Unless Phillip Schofield’s ex-lover contradicts his version of events to The Sun and BBC, then it’s time to stop this relentless persecution of a guy who’s lost everything and looks right on the edge to me. “He doesn’t seem to have committed any crime, and he’s not a govt minister.” However, Twitter users were quick to accuse the broadcaster of “hypocrisy”, as some argued he’s engaged in the “relentless persecution” of Meghan: In fact, in March 2021, after the duchess revealed to Oprah Winfrey that she was having suicidal thoughts following the backlash over her stepping back from royal duties with her husband Harry, Morgan said on ITV’s Good Morning Britain that “I don’t believe a word she says”. “I wouldn’t believe her if she read me a weather report,” he added. The remarks received widespread condemnation at the time, to the extent the mental health charity Mind said it was “disappointed and concerned” by the comments and more than 41,000 complaints were made to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Jacob Elordi has revealed that before taking on the role of Elvis in the upcoming Priscilla biopic - he'd only heard of the iconic singer from Lilo and Stitch. Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the 26-year-old claimed his love of the 2002 film, which sees stitch dress up as the king of rock and roll, was as far as his knowledge went. However, despite that being his only reference, he admitted the knowledge based off that alone was 'a lot'. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

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Millions will be watching as 26 countries go head to head to be crowned champions of the Eurovision Song Contest this weekend – but not everyone calls themselves a fan. The notoriously weird and wonderful event still divides opinion right down the middle – when it comes to Eurovision, you’re either all in or not. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter We pitched two writers against each other, one who loves Eurovision and one who can’t stand it. So, whose side are you on? Kate Plummer: Why I hate Eurovision What would happen if you brought together all the kinds of musicians who X Factor judges consider passing at the audition stage of the competition - but ultimately decide not to? What would happen if you asked cruise ship singers to come together and belt out hours of 'tunes' that resemble copyright-free hold music at best, or something your 10-year-old niece cooked up on GarageBand at worst? The answer, of course, is the gaudy Eurovision Song Contest, that homage to naffness, that yearly nightmare that we are forced to endure. "But it's fun!" the doltish masses cry. "Look at their outfits," the square-eyed cretins say. Save it. Like most organised fun and forced merriment (see hen dos, school reunions and anything to do with sport), Eurovision is absolutely awful. But unlike hen dos, school reunions and anything to do with sport, there is no escaping the tyrannical grip of its regime. It man spreads over the course of Saturday night telly, it bleeds into every pub, bar and group chat of excitable friends organising their cursed viewing parties. This year, it will even be screened in cinemas. Where is my respite? I didn't even vote for Brexit but surely the yearly congregation of the worst representatives of Europe is a dividend we could have gained from leaving the bloc? The 2023 contest is being held in the UK city of Liverpool this week, building up to the grand final on Saturday. Acts from 37 countries are taking part. So will I be tuning in to see which act has become this year's meme and what 'funny moments' have gone viral on social media? Absolutely not. After all, 66 contests and over 1,600 songs, there's a reason the only Eurovision act anyone can name is Abba... Eurovision is completely naff. Count me out. Harry Fletcher: Why I love Eurovision There aren’t many things that every single member of the family can sit down to watch together and genuinely look forward to. Eurovision is one of them. It’s a big event in our household, with family members spread around the country heading back up north to watch together. Why do we love it? The sheer strangeness is certainly a factor. The likes of Käärijä, representing Finland in 2023 with the bizarre 'Cha Cha Cha', are doing a good job keeping it weird and wonderful. But the sheer quality of the entries is more impressive year on year. The overall standard has increased inexorably and the quality of the songwriting in the strongest entries is always staggering. Crafting a good Eurovision song is an art form, and there are still entries from more than 10 years ago that pop into my head occasionally. Eurovision also has to be the most welcoming, accessible major event in the UK calendar. It’s for absolutely everyone; it’s a comfortable space, completely free of cynicism. With Eurovision, you take away all the nastiness that comes hand in hand with X Factor and other formats that invite people to sing before live audiences. Here, there’s none of the sneering at contestants or gawking at eccentric members of the public. Instead, with Eurovision it’s a celebration, and an invitation to be as weird as you like when representing your country. Eurovision can always be relied on to bring out the best in Twitter, too. When so much of social media is increasingly devoted to negativity and hate, it feels like a throwback to nicer times when it functioned more as a public forum for fans during events like Eurovision. The contest has changed a lot since I started watching around 15 years ago. There was an endearingly cheap feel about the contest back then, but the production values are outstanding these days. It’s far less of a niche interest than it used to be too; with the event coming to the UK this year, it’s attracted more and more attention. More eyes on this wonderfully odd event, which celebrates diversity, gives us genuinely brilliant songs every year and gives us something wholesome to get stuck into on social media can only be a good thing. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Laura Woods is one of the best in the game when it comes to presenting live sport, but she’s had to put up with a lot of nonsense from viewers over the years. The 35-year-old has said she receives strange questions from time to time – and most of them relate to her feet. Woods spoke about the fact that the most bizarre DMs she receives from fans always tend to arrive after her feet are seen on Instagram or during a live broadcast. Appearing on Sam Thompson and Pete Wicks’ podcast Staying Relevant, Woods said: "Every time I have no shoes on in a photo, the amount of people that say I've got boat feet. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "They're a size seven which is a UK average for a woman by the way. [I get] 'How big are your f***ing boats?' And I'm like ‘they're not that big.’" Woods even has her own profile on Wikifeet - a website for celebrity foot fetishists - which fans have put together using pictures from her social media pages. Woods isn’t afraid to respond to fans, either. "I've replied a couple of times [to negative messages] about people's manhood... but it's only ever a retaliation,” she said. "I never understand when people say, 'Oh but you can't say that'. Am I a sitting duck? Just because I'm a broadcaster, you're allowed to say anything you want about me and as soon as I reply - and I will win, like I'm very stubborn about things like that - I will f***ing fight to the death." Meanwhile, Woods got more than she bargained for during a recent radio phone-in, after a Premier League star admitted he had a crush on her live on air. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Police in New Delhi have raided the homes of prominent journalists linked to a left-leaning news organization known for its scrutiny of the Indian government, in a move media groups characterized as the latest attack on press freedom.