Was homophobia part of the Phillip Schofield backlash? Have your say

Sir Elton John has said the reaction to Phillip Schofield's affair with a young production assistant at This Morning was "totally homophobic".

The 61-year-old presenter has resigned completely from TV after confessing he had lied to ITV executives about a secret affair with a much younger man.

Elton, 76, has told the Radio Times: "I feel that the Phillip Schofield thing has been totally homophobic.

Read more: Phillip Schofield says his career is over following affair (BBC News, 9 min read)

"If it was a straight guy in a fling with a young woman, it wouldn’t even make the papers."

What do you think? Have your say below?

What happened?

Schofield met the young man when he was just 15 and he visited his school in his capacity as a showbusiness personality.

They exchanged messages on Twitter and the TV presenter helped him to get a work experience placement at This Morning a few years later.

When the anonymous staffer — known only as Person X — was an adult and came to work as a production assistant on the ITV show Schofield revealed they shared a number of sexual encounters, the first of which took place in his dressing room. He has said they were lovers but never had a serious relationship.

Watch: Sir Elton John has called the reaction to Phillip Schofield's affair "totally homophobic"

In an interview with the BBC's Amol Rajan Schofield said: "I fully appreciate there is a massive age gap, but that happens in life.

“I think there is an enormous amount of homophobia that [the affair] happens to be male, but if it was male-female then it wouldn’t be such a scandal.”

The former West End star told The Sun: “There’s [an age] difference. It’s accepted [if it’s] ­Leonardo DiCaprio [dating younger women], it’s not accepted if it’s in the gay world.

Read more: Dr Ranj says This Morning complaint wasn't about Phillip Schofield

“People are attracted to or have relationships – wise or unwise – with people of different ages.”