ITV has lined up Phillip Schofield’s replacement as Dancing on Ice host, according to reports.
Stephen Mulhern has officially been offered the role to present the ITV show alongside Holly Willoughby, sources suggest.
The Catchphrase star is expected to be announced as the celebrity talent show’s new host within days, the Mirror reports.
The presenting situation for Dancing on Ice has been up in the air since ITV cut ties with Phillip Schofield following a row over his affair with a younger colleague on This Morning.
The incident saw Schofield dropped from This Morning, Dancing on Ice and the British Soap Awards.
In an interview on BBC News following his departure, Schofield said he doubted he would return to a career in TV.
"I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart," he said. "I have lost everything.
"What am I going to do with my days? I see nothing ahead of me but blackness, and sadness, and regret, and remorse, and guilt. I did something very wrong, and then I lied about it consistently."
Schofield told the BBC that his colleague was 20 years old when he first had any kind of sexual contact with him and that their first romantic encounter took place in an ITV dressing room.
He added he understood people who thought there had been an abuse of power, but said it "didn't feel like that at the time".
"I fully appreciate there is a massive age gap, but that happens in life. I think there is an enormous amount of homophobia that it happens to be male, but if it was male-female then it wouldn't be such a scandal," he said.
Mulhern was also recently chosen to front the reboot of Deal or No Deal.
A TV insider told The Sun: “Deal or No Deal is such a strong format you don’t want to go fiddling with it.
“It’s pretty much the same. The boxes are back, the banker is back and the 22 players.
"The only difference is Stephen, which gives it a fresh feel.
“Deal Or No Deal was absolutely huge back in the day and pulled in millions of viewers.
“ITV think there is still a huge appetite for it and think they could make a huge success of the show if they brought it back."
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