Phillip Schofield has spoken out after fans speculated he had gone for a walk with his boyfriend.
The This Morning presenter gave one fan the middle finger emoji after many people asked him if the man he'd shared a picture of was his new partner.
The daytime TV star come out as gay earlier this year after being married to Steph for nearly 27 years and they raised two grown up daughters Ruby and Molly.
Phillip has yet to go public with a boyfriend after coming out, and has previously said there is no one else in the picture, reports Mirror Online.
But as Schofe posted a photo with another man on a walk earlier today his followers were quick to speculate.
One person wrote: "Mate is that what they call it nowadays."
Alongside the middle finger emoji, Phillip replied: "Yes! A mate! That's what they still call family friends who you've known for 20 years and come round to check if you're OK."
Initially, Phillip had introduced the man in the photo as a "mate" and the last person he had a drink with "before the wheels fell off".
In the socially distanced selfie, Phillip smiled to the camera in the close up while his friend posed two metres behind him in a green space.
He wrote: "First socially distanced walk with a mate!
"Thank you... last person I had a drink with before the wheels fell off, first I've seen as we try to reattach them!"
Phillip explained Simon was a family friend of 20 years.
They have also worked together in recent years.
In 2016, Simon laid out on his LinkedIn page he was the producer for production company The Knights Of Music which Phillip starred in.
Phillip ventured out of his family home for the afternoon in the sunshine with his friend.
It comes as Boris Johnson begun to ease the lockdown rules and people were allowed to see one person outside their household on the provision they kept a two metre distance in a public place.
After weeks of silence, it emerged Phillip had been isolating at his family home in Oxfordshire.
Phillip and Steph have remained amicable since their separation as his wife declared she would always love him when she publicly supported him coming out as a gay.
The TV star was forced to deny claims he had broken rules after he was seen moving into his new flat in London during the lockdown.
