"how much are you supposed to take?" if all of those people that write all of that stuff... do they ever think that there's actually... ..a person at the other end? and so... ..hereiam, um... are you feeling 0k to do this? are you feeling strong enough to do this interview? yeah, i have to. why? why do you want to do this interview? because there is an innocent person here who didn't do anything wrong. who is...vulnerable... ..and probably feels like i do. and...

..i just have to say... ..stop with him. ok, with me. but stop with him. leave him alone now. let me say, you know, a lot of my questions are going to be uncomfortable and, let's face it, intrusive. but you've chosen this opportunity to tell your side of the story. and there are questions that your viewers, all the people who supported you over the years — including your family — will want answers to. there's also, of course, lots of questions for itv in all this. you mentioned this young man, and at the centre of recent events is a young man who, together with many others in the media, we're not going to name. under article 8 of the human rights act, he has a right to privacy, and he's not here today to give his own account of events. when did you last speak to him? um... as i engaged the lawyerfor him. um... so...he needed independent support. and so that was the last time.

how concerned are you about his welfare right now? massively. massively concerned. where did you first meet this young man in question? what were the circumstances? i was invited by a friend of mine to go to open a drama school. and that's where the picture was taken. um... whether it was immediately or some time after he said, "will you follow him on twitter? because he's a fan." so i said, "yeah, sure, no problem." which i did. and he was, what, 15 at the time? and this is over a decade ago. but i follow... i follow 11,300 people. and in all the time i've been on twitter, there has never been any whiff of impropriety. and how often were you in touch with him? hardly — hardly at all. he then said that he was interested in television. "ok," you know? "good luck, good luck. anything i can do to help?" probably — that's what i normally say. um...

and that was it for a while. and then... ..he... ..asked if he could... ..visit the studios, work—experience type of thing. i said, well, come down and have a look — for sure. which he did. how old was he when he first said to you "i'm interested in television"? was he 18 by that point? 19, then, i would think. 19 by then. when you look back now, if you were to look back at those messages now, is there any sense in which you were flirting with him? no. i've been 41 years in television. you know, nothing like this before — you know, no accusations. i mean, this is... this is all, you know, accusations. and then when you met him in person, was there a little moment of sexual attraction then even? absolutely not. 0k. so to be absolutely clear, how old was this young man when you first had any kind of sexual contact with him? 20.

is that when... i mean, this is obviously the nub of it — and for the record, and to put speculation to rest — let me ask you directly, did you have any kind of sexual relationship or sex with him when he was underage? no — god, no. that... i think that is, you know... in my statement, it says, you know, consensual relationship, fully legal. i mean, that was approved by both sides. you know, that's... no, no. he'd been working at the show for...a few months. and... and we'd become mates. we were mates. um, you know, around the studios, you hang out together, you know, you chat to each other, that sort of stuff. and then... ..in my dressing room one day... ..something happened. um... which...

..you know, obviously, iwill... ..regret forever — for him and for me. mostly him. but it... that happened maybe four or five times over the next few months. and... i know it's. .. ..unforgivable. um... but we weren't boyfriends. we weren't in a relationship. i was really in a mess with my own sexuality at the time. and... ..itjust happened. how old was he at this stage? 20, 21. who knew on the team? nobody. to my knowledge. i mean, somebody has to know something for there to be a rumour later on.

i didn't believe that anybody knew. and did you ever tell holly willoughby? no — god, no. that's a bit of a bigger question, because we have... 0ur make—up room was like a sanctuary — has always been a sanctuary. so you tell everything in that room. holly knows everything about me. i know everything about holly. holly did not know. nobody knew. and you never... you never told her? no, i didn't tell anybody. i mean, the reason this matters is because it is about potential abuse of power. and it is... i understand that. and that is a very, very valid question to put to me. and people would say the circumstances are as follows here. you met someone who was a child. you were in a position of power over them. you used your power eventually to give them something they craved — which was a shot at a job in the media. you nurtured a relationship and then that relationship became sexual. they might ask, what's the difference between

that and grooming? well, i would say that your initial list of things was not right anyway. tell me why. because it was a totally innocent picture, a totally innocent twitter follow — of which i follow 11,400 people — and...and then it was a completely innocent backwards—and—forwards over a period of time about a job, about careers. what's wrong with talking to someone no matter, you know, what age they are? does that mean that if — you know, if you are... if you're following anyone on twitter that you absolutely don't talk to anybody else or you don't give advice? so i disagree with the summation that you just gave, because that does paint a very grave picture. do you know if he has signed an nda — a non—disclosure agreement — preventing him from speaking? no. you don't know? if he has. no. did i make him sign an nda? no, absolutely not. but there's a question of whether or not he was, as it were, paid off — in effect, if he was paid off. no.

was he paid for his silence? no — god, no. no. so is he free to speak if he wants to? yeah. yes. i mean, what he wants is for all of this to go away. he wants a quiet life. and just on a couple of points of information, just to be clear, you are currently — on an ongoing basis — you're paying for his legal advice and support. has there ever been, or is there an injunction or any sort of nda preventing media coverage of your relationship with him? no. why is all this coming out now, phillip? what was the catalyst? what changed? it got too big. the lie got too big for both of us. itjust got enormous. it was growing and growing and growing. and it... it crossed over from the — from online to... ..mainstream news. itv�*s position is that they — and they've only put out one statement about all this — they say they investigated allegations of an improper relationship, and they were told by both you and the young man that there was no relationship.

in retrospect, was that investigation a sham? because it clearly didn't get to the truth, did it? i think if you have two people who are lying, then what can you do? but what did that investigation amount to? was it... was itjust a phone call to you and a phone call to the young man? was it sort of a proper sort of independent... i think he was asked... he was asked quite a bit. i was asked a couple of times. so, you know, it... and it wasn't formal. is this the tip of the iceberg? are there more allegations of revelations to come or as far as you're concerned, is all of that... it's my biggest, sorriest secret. that was amol rajan with the interview with phillip schofield and you can see the extended version on the bbc iplayer. there is more disruption for rail passengers today with another strike, this time involving members of the rmt union involving members of the rmt union in the dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. 0nly around half of normal services are running. england is worst hit but routes into scotland and wales are also affected.

our business correspondent, marc ashdown, reports. sarah has stage four bowel cancer and has been in and out of hospital for treatment and had been due to have an operation on her liver today but it's been cancelled due to the strikes. 50 but it's been cancelled due to the strikes. , ~' but it's been cancelled due to the strikes. , ~ ., ., strikes. so it is kind of a threefold _ strikes. so it is kind of a threefold you _ strikes. so it is kind of a threefold you have, - strikes. so it is kind of a threefold you have, me| strikes. so it is kind of a - threefold you have, me getting strikes. so it is kind of a _ threefold you have, me getting the hospital as a patient, you have visitors getting to and from the hospital to come and see me, which is really important, and then you have the staff who are desperately trying to look after me and keep me alive. ~ , alive. the rmt said it regrets the strike action. _ alive. the rmt said it regrets the strike action, but _ alive. the rmt said it regrets the strike action, but yet _ alive. the rmt said it regrets the strike action, but yet again - alive. the rmt said it regrets the strike action, but yet again rail i strike action, but yet again rail workers are on picket lines. around half of all services are expected to be cancelled today, more frustration for passengers like here in manchester.— for passengers like here in manchester. , ., , manchester. everyone is in the same boat, i manchester. everyone is in the same boat. i haven't— manchester. everyone is in the same boat, i haven't had _ manchester. everyone is in the same boat, i haven't had a _ manchester. everyone is in the same boat, i haven't had a pay _ manchester. everyone is in the same boat, i haven't had a pay rise - manchester. everyone is in the same boat, i haven't had a pay rise for - boat, i haven't had a pay rise for many years. but it is having a knock—on effect on other people and people are getting fed up with it. i think the government need to do something about it and actually listen _ something about it and actually listen to— something about it and actually listen to what the union and what people _ listen to what the union and what pe0ple are — listen to what the union and what people are saying. listen to what the union and what peeple are saying-— people are saying. 20,000 rmt members at _ people are saying. 20,000 rmt members at 14 _ people are saying. 20,000 rmt

members at 14 rail _ people are saying. 20,000 rmt members at 14 rail companies . people are saying. 20,000 rmt. members at 14 rail companies are involved, like guards and station staff. the rail delivery group has offered a 5% backdated pay rise and then a rise of 4% this year if changes to working practices can be negotiated. today is the 29th day rail workers have gone on strike in this dispute. the rail delivery group say they were blindsided by the rmt executive is' decision to reject a deal they say was agreed on line by line by both sides and would have given the lowest paid workers a 13% pay rise over two years. they also maintain rmt leaders still haven't put the offer to the membership for a vote. rmt leaders say members were fully aware of the deal when they voted recently to extend the strike action for another six months. the recently to extend the strike action for another six months.— for another six months. the deal is not acceptable, _ for another six months. the deal is not acceptable, they _ for another six months. the deal is not acceptable, they know - for another six months. the deal is not acceptable, they know it - for another six months. the deal is not acceptable, they know it is - for another six months. the deal is not acceptable, they know it is not| not acceptable, they know it is not acceptable and they have got to do better. the pay rise is a very paltry 5% covering for years when we haven't had a pay rise for. they want to rip up our terms and conditions, cut ourjobs. conditions, cut our “obs. tomorrow, train drivers— conditions, cut our “obs. tomorrow,

train drivers and — conditions, cut ourjobs. tomorrow, train drivers and the _ conditions, cut ourjobs. tomorrow, train drivers and the aslef_ conditions, cut ourjobs. tomorrow, train drivers and the aslef union - train drivers and the aslef union will stage the next right, we can have major music and sporting events likely to face more disruption. marc ashdown, bbc news. france is now the first country in europe to regulate influencer marketing on social media — with a new law passed on thursday. here's emily brown. influencer marketing is where social media users with a big following on sites like tiktok and instagram promote certain products or certain products on the posts and stories in return for money. and with so many of us using social media it has an enormous reach. but there are calls for more regulation. in the past few weeks adverts promoting vaping products were banned by a uk watchdog after they were found to have broken advertising rules. and most recently france has become the first country in europe to introduce an influencer marketing law to regulate the marketing on social media, cracking down on what people

can monetise and promote online. this after an inspection carried out found that all of the influence of those who were inspected did not comply with the rules on the transparency of the commercial nature of their publications. the new law was passed in the french national assembly chamber. it was said to have been passed in record time and unanimously. the law makes it unlawful for influencer is to make paid content promoting cosmetic surgeries, online sports betting sites or products like cryptocurrencies. influencer is and companies caught violating the law could face up to two years in prison, or could face fines of up and they could see their ability to post revoked. emily brown there. stay with us on bbc news. plenty more to come with ben thompson.

live from london, this is bbc news. former tv star phillip schofield says he feels nothing but sadness and regret after admitting to lying about an affair with a younger colleague. about an affair with a younger colleague-— about an affair with a younger colleauue. ~ . ., , .,, colleague. what was unwise was the fact that it happened. _ colleague. what was unwise was the fact that it happened. and _ colleague. what was unwise was the fact that it happened. and that - colleague. what was unwise was the fact that it happened. and that was. fact that it happened. and that was a very, very grave error. it was consensual, but it was my fault. borisjohnson consensual, but it was my fault. boris johnson says consensual, but it was my fault. borisjohnson says he will give his unredacted whatsapp messages directly to the covid inquiry, after the government appealed for a judge to halt the move. tensions between

the united states and china loom over asia's biggest