Eamonn Holmes has scoffed at his former This Morning co-star Phillip Schofield after he announced his return to TV with a Channel 5 series.
In the trailer for the show, which shows Schofield marooned alone on a tropical island off the coast of Madagascar, the 62-year-old acknowledged that not disclosing an affair with a younger colleague was “unwise”, but questioned whether it should “absolutely destroy someone”.
In the teaser for the three-part show, Phillip Schofield: Cast Away, he says to camera: “I’ve been cast away on a desert island, completely on my own, all I have is camera gear, and I can say whatever I want about whatever I want.
“It’s my chance to tell my side of my story. I know what I did was unwise, but is it enough to absolutely destroy someone?”
Schofield said last year he had “lost everything” after admitting to the affair, and that the fallout had had a “catastrophic effect” on his mind.
An external review, revealed in December, found that ITV made “considerable efforts” to find out the truth about an alleged relationship between him and a runner on This Morning in 2019 but was “unable to uncover the relevant evidence” until the presenter’s own admission in late May 2023.
Carried out by Jane Mulcahy KC, and commissioned by ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall, Schofield “reluctantly declined” to take part because of “the risk to his health”.
Holly Willoughby, who was a co-host of This Morning with Schofield for more than a decade left the daytime programme in October 2023, and continued at ITV by presenting Dancing On Ice with Stephen Mulhern, instead of her former on-screen partner.
When it emerged that Schofield had the affair, Holmes said both he and his former wife Ruth Langsford had been “taken for fools” by their former co-presenter after comforting him live on TV when he came out as gay.
The Belfast presenter also said “Schofield has finally been caught out” and branded ITV “the ministry of lies”.
Following the announcement of Schofield’s Channel 5 show, it was discussed on Holmes’ GB News breakfast show where contributor Dr Renee Hoendkerkamp said: “Is this not just the chance for a narcissist to have more me time on screen?”
Former Home Office Minister Norman Baker added: “So what? I don’t want to know about it, I’m not interested in it. Why is The Sun giving two pages to it? I suppose it sells papers but really, is that the most important thing in the papers?”
Co-host Isabel Webster interrupted and said: “Well, he was one of our most high-profile presenters in the country, he was married and he had two children when the scandal emerged, he lost all of his TV work including Dancing On Ice, he fell out with his one time best friend and co-host Holly Willoughby…”
She added that Schofield “had to leave social media” in the wake of his scandal, when Baker replied “my heart bleeds”, which led to Holmes letting out a chuckle and saying, “very good, very good”.
The clip for Schofield’s new show was interspersed with scenes of him trying to find food and survive on the island.
Announcing the new series yesterday, more than a year on from his resignation from ITV last May, he called the show his “story of survival, both on a desert island and off it” on Instagram.
The series will air across three nights, from Monday until Wednesday, and will see the former presenter getting to grips with isolation across 10 days and nine nights.
Channel 5 said the experience of Schofield being left alone allows him to “confront the challenges of total isolation, the forces of nature and provides the time to battle within his own mind as he explores his own controversial story”.
Schofield said: “This is most definitely a first for me and the only thing I felt compelled to do. It appealed to me on so many levels.
“I’ve recently had a lot of time to think about my life, what went right and what went wrong, but I’ve always had the safe arms of friends and family wrapped around me. This time it’s just me, no phone, no comforts, no crew and only lip balm as a luxury.
“I’m looking forward to exploring the island, trying to tie knots to secure my shelter and foraging and fending for myself in the wild … with no help.”
Channel 5 commissioning editor Guy Davies said: “This isn’t just a survival challenge, it’s chance for Phillip to look back over the last explosive 18 months of his life, and explore what happened.”
Before the announcement, the channel posted a short clip of a mystery star walking across a remote beach, as it teased its “brand new” desert island programme on social media.
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away begins airing at 9pm on Monday on Channel 5.