Clarkson’s Farm presenter and former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has become the latest TV personality to speak out in defence of Phillip Schofield, as the ex-This Morning star continues to face intense online and media scrutiny over an affair with a younger male colleague. In May, the broadcaster quit ITV before later issuing a statement via the Daily Mail in which he confirmed 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,” Schofield said. Then, in an interview with the BBC’s media editor Amol Rajan after revealing the relationship, he said he understood “how Caroline Flack felt” and that if his daughters “hadn’t been there” for him last week, “I wouldn’t be here”. He added: “They guarded me and wouldn’t let me out of their sight. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “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?’ “And this is how Caroline Flack felt, and it didn’t stop.” In a separate interview with The Sun, in which he was asked if he “groomed” the young co-worker, Schofield said he “did not”. Now, in a comment piece penned for The Sunday Times, Clarkson has intervened to argue that while he doesn’t know Schofield “at all well” and has “no skin in the game”, the ITV presenter “is only guilty of being what he said he was: gay”. “When it emerged that he’d actually done homosexuality, everyone went berserk. He maintains that his lover was over the age of consent when their relationship became physical, but that hasn’t silenced the howls of disgust. “And I find that weird … [We] nod appreciatively when we learn that the age gap between Al Pacino and his pregnant girlfriend is 54 years, which means that when he was starring as an old man in Scent of a Woman, she wasn’t even an embryo. “But Phil and his toy boy? Noooo. That’s totally unacceptable,” he wrote sarcastically. Further illustrating the point, Clarkson went on to add the situation is somehow so unacceptable that “all the charities he’s supported must turn their backs, his wine business must be wound up and, from now on, WeWontBeBuyingAnyCar.com” – referencing the car selling website Schofield once collaborated with on a marketing campaign. “And that’s just the start of it. Everyone who’s ever walked past him in the street must be sacked as well. “And those who paid his wages or sat next to him in the studio must be hauled into televised committees so that bramble bushes can be inserted into their bottoms. I’ve never seen a witch hunt like it, and what baffles me most of all is that, as things stand, no crime has been committed,” he continued. However, Twitter users aren’t too supportive of Clarkson’s remarks about a “witch hunt”, seeing as he received widespread condemnation in December for a controversial piece in which he claimed he dreams of the Duchess of Sussex being made to “parade naked” in public while people “throw lumps of excrement” at her: Clarkson’s not the only person to be accused of “hypocrisy” over his comments about Schofield and a “witch hunt”, either, as former Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan’s own attacks on Meghan were brought up following his remarks on the scandal. “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,” he tweeted. 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.

Spotify Technology SA said on Monday it would lay off 200 employees in its podcast division, representing about

By Rollo Ross LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -"That '70s Show" actor Danny Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life in

While Taylor Swift's hilarious impression made a comeback, her absence from the latest game and Travis Kelce's birthday celebrations left fans puzzled

Matt LeBlanc's height has been a point of discussion among users on social media, with various opinions being shared

Despite ongoing legal woes, 'Creed III' actor Jonathan Majors manages to make time for love as he embarks on a new journey with actress Meagan Good

Halle Bailey has been busy promoting 'The Little Mermaid' and with the end of the press tour, will get to spend more time with boyfriend DDG

Andrew Tat recently posted on Twitter recounting an experience of witnessing a knife-related incident while driving through England

'Push every SAG-AFTRA member to join the ones that get SAG-AFTRA (WGA) WAIVERS immediately,' Mark Ruffalo tweeted

Netflix takes several, steamy liberties with the historical record, but there was a real Queen Charlotte—and she was just as complicated as the TV version.

'Today' host Al Roker posted photos on social media from his wedding in 1995 as he celebrated his 28th anniversary with Deborah Roberts

A young boy has won a solid gold Prime bottle worth an incredible $400k after successfully entering a competition held by KSI and Logan Paul. The young lad won after successfully guessing the code to a special locked bottle of the drink in London. It comes after KSI and Paul launched a giveaway for one of two gold bars that had been crafted into the shape of their energy drink – one in London and one in New York. Announcing the competition on Instagram, the pair said: "The golden Prime will be encased in bulletproof glass. "To get to it you must correctly guess a six-digit code. Each person only has one guess and only 20 seconds to make that guess.” They added: "If the code is not guessed correctly within 48 hours, the torches inside the case will ignite. "And the gold prime bottle will be incinerated completely - worth absolutely nothing.” They also explained that the items had been made by the former NASA engineer Mark Rober”. The competition was launched to mark the sale of one billion Prime bottles across the world, as the pair celebrated the remarkable success of the energy drink. Thousands tried across both locations, but it was a young load in a Pinewood FC shirt that managed to guess the right code. The winning moment saw him type in the right numbers, setting off the confetti and smiling as he held the prize. The other prize in New York was subsequently melted down, ensuring there was only one winner. The pair then released a statement, saying: "We do everything BIG. Since we created PRIME, we’ve made our own blueprint when it came to marketing, scaling, and building the brand. "In a short period of time, we’ve become the fastest-growing beverage company in history, selling our one-billionth bottle in just year two,” they added. "We’re confident our fans will be pleasantly surprised when they visit our celebratory Gold Stores and see what a unique experience our team has built." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel 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