In response to the departure of her former colleague Phillip Schofield, This Morning host Alison Hammond sobbed in front of the camera.
Following his affair with a young male colleague, Schofield told the BBC that he believes his "career is over.".
Hammond said he had apologized during the show on Friday and urged viewers not to be too critical of his behavior.
She said, "Obviously, I loved Phillip Schofield, so I'm just finding it really painful.".
And the strange thing is, I still adore Phillip Schofield. However, he has acknowledged that what he did was wrong and apologized for it.
But I never know what to say because as a [TV] family, we're all really struggling to process everything. ".
However, she recalled what her mother had always advised: "Use your Bible as your Sat Nav in life Al. In the Bible, it says He without sin, cast the first stone.
"And I just don't want to say anything negative because it's clear that I'm at odds with myself. ".
Following his admission that he had lied about having an affair with a male coworker, whom he had first met when he was 15 and who had helped him break into the business, Schofield, 61, quit his ITV show last week.
A barrister has been appointed by the network to oversee a review of how it handled the brief relationship.
This week, Hammond and Dermot O'Leary have taken over hosting duties from regular hosts Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning.
Despite stating that "what Phil has done is wrong," O'Leary argued that there should now be worries about his mental health given the extensive media coverage.
While holding a tiny green vape in an interview with the BBC's Amol Rajan, Schofield said that recent events had made him feel suicidal, drawing comparisons to the way the late Caroline Flack had been treated by the media and harassed online.
After former Love Island host Flack passed away, there was a great deal of grief and a call for it to change how people treated celebrities in the media and on social media.
After quitting the dating show following her December assault charge against her partner, she committed suicide in 2020.
Schofield's comparison was called "distasteful" by a number of Twitter users.
On This Morning, O'Leary stated: "As a society, quite rightly, we talk about mental health all the time. However, that can't be the exclusive domain of those who are on the right side of history. ".
"There's [only] so much a man can take, isn't there, and I don't want any deaths in this situation," continued Hammond. ".
Schofield, who is married and has two kids, was showered with support in 2020 after coming out as gay.
The controversy surrounding him, according to Gyles Brandreth, a regular on This Morning, was "a human story but with public implications.".
"The point is, the public implication is related to broadcasting and related to workplace rules, regulations, and good behavior [and] that is going to be dealt with by the review and we'll learn the consequences of that," he said.
It's challenging for us because we're dealing with a person who all of us in this room have known and liked for a long time.
What I'm really saying is that the human level response to it has been somewhat disproportionate. ".
Richard Bacon, a fellow broadcaster, tweeted that it was "time to stop piling in on this human being" and offered his support. Following his admission that he had used cocaine, the former Blue Peter presenter was fired from the program in 1998.
Piers Morgan, a former Good Morning Britain host and broadcaster, concurred that it was time to put an end to the "relentless persecution of a guy who's lost everything and looks right on the edge to me.".
He appears to have committed no crimes, and he is not a government minister. ".
Schofield claimed that criticism of his relationship with a younger man in the media was homophobic, but Kelvin MacKenzie, a former editor of the Sun, disagreed.
He wrote online, "Don't agree.". "I suspect it would have been worse had he met a girl when she was 15 and then set her up with a job when she was 18 and later turned the 'friendship' into an affair. ".
Political commentator Bushra Shaikh said, "He's only'sad' because his dirty secret came out. Otherwise, he'd still be sitting there presenting.
Please disregard his crocodile tears. ".
At a meeting of the committee on June 14, ITV CEO Dame Carolyn McCall will be asked questions by MPs about the circumstances at ITV and This Morning.
According to Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Select Committee on Culture, Media, and Sport in Parliament, Schofield's interview was "very difficult to listen to.".
This incident has blown apart two lives, she said.
"Two careers have been destroyed by this, not to mention all the families and loved ones who will also be impacted. It's extremely difficult to listen to the interview. ".
The public's reaction to his interview "picked out certain parts that Phillip has said, and disagreed with and shared, pushing even more of a "witch hunt," Lauren Beeching, founder of crisis management firm Honest London, told the BBC.".
"It's obvious that Phillip felt the need to react to the hatred, but at this point, there isn't much that can be said to make things better for him. I would have suggested that he keep quiet until the outcry subsided. ".
She added that she disagreed with Schofield's assertion that his career was over and that it was over, saying, "I've worked with celebrities experiencing similar levels of public outrage, and in every instance, the public backlash lessens over time. When this happens, Phillip can start repairing his reputation. ".
Phillip Schofield was correct to come out with his side of the story, which must have been very difficult, said Simon Wadsworth, founder of the reputation management consultancy Igniyte, to the BBC. He added that he saw the interview as a "positive step" that could "help sway public opinion in his favor.". The interview will aid in balancing the story. ".
In addition, he expressed the opinion that the presenter's TV career was not over, saying: "Right now, it might seem that way, but not necessarily. A presenter can always be replaced. He needs to get away from everything so he can regroup and reflect. ".
Hammond added that Josie Gibson and Holly Willoughby would join him on the couch to host This Morning on Monday at the conclusion of the Friday show.
Regarding the independent review that was established earlier this week into how ITV handled a relationship between Schofield and a colleague, ITV informed the BBC that it would not be making any further statements.
Check out BBC Sounds for additional commentary on the Phillip Schofield interview. Voice of the UK with Nicky Campbell on 5 Live.
