Alison Hammond in tears on This Morning as she says she still loves Phillip Schofield

Alison Hammond started to cry on This Morning as she discussed Phillip Schofield's emotional BBC interview, saying she still loved the presenter.

Schofield talked to the BBC’s Amol Rajan after a turbulent couple of weeks which saw him admitting to having an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a much younger ITV staff member and exiting the ITV daytime programme.

During the interview, he said he had “lost everything” and that he understood how late Love Island host Caroline Flack – who took her own life in 2020 – must have felt.

Read more: Phillip Schofield: Viewers say it's time to 'be kind' after 'upsetting' interview

Hammond and co-host Dermot O'Leary watched a clip from the interview on Friday's instalment of This Morning (2 June), and it left Hammond in tears.

"I am just finding it really painful, because obviously, you know, I loved Phillip Schofield and it's weird, because I still love Phillip Schofield," she said.

"However, what he's done is wrong. He has admitted it, he has said sorry."

She went on: "As a family we are all really struggling to process everything. And I never know what to say.

"I remember what my mum said. My mum always said, 'Use your Bible as your SatNav in life Al'.

"And in the Bible it says, 'He without sin casts the first stone' and I... I don't want to say anything bad because obviously I'm in conflict."

"There is so much a man can take isn't there, there's so much, and I don't want any death in this situation," added the TV star.

O'Leary also said it was a difficult story for them to cover, as they were talking about a friend and colleague.

The show's Gyles Brandreth added: "There is a great many things that have been said.

"There is going to be an external review that will look into all of that.

"But watching this clip I was reminded immediately of a great saying by writer Henry James, who said, 'In life there are three rules - the first rule is be kind, the second rule is be kind and the third rule is be kind'.

Read more: Kerry Katona recalls 'belittling' This Morning interview and says show 'needs to go'

"And watching a human being here, telling his side of the story, reminds me that perhaps there hasn't been much kindness in the way this has all been handled."

Watch: Phillip Schofield says he has ‘lost everything’ in the wake of his secret affair