Phillip Schofield is set to return to TV on Channel 5 tomorrow night after taking part in the Castaway series – opening up about his departure from This Morning, his “unwise but not illegal affair”, and the fallout.
The 62-year-old quit the channel back in May 2023 after it emerged he had been having an affair with a younger male staff member on This Morning, something he had previously denied.
He has been away from the spotlight for over 16 months and briefly began posting on Instagram at the beginning of the year, however, will make his comeback across three new episodes of the Channel 5 series.
Stranded on a desert island for 10 days Schofield delves into his life back when he started at the BBC as a booking clerk at 19, where he first was able to go to Television Centre, where ITV’s This Morning was later filmed.
In one scene, the ex-presenter is sat by the fire and still holds anger for ITV execs and three of his former colleagues – seemingly including co-host Holly Willoughby who he is understood to no longer be friends.
Discussing what happened and how his world fell apart, the former Dancing on Ice presenter said: “When what happened to me happened to me, it screwed up my favourite building in the world, and it pretty well blew away all those happy memories, and suddenly the place became hostile to me, and that was heartbreaking.
Holly Willoughby is said to no longer be friends with Phillip Schofield
PA
“And the people who did it to me, know, they know how important that building was to me. They know that when you throw someone under a bus, you’ve got to have a really bloody good reason to do it. Brand, ambition is not good enough. It’s not a good enough reason to throw someone under a bus.
“I was just thinking there as I was collecting wood. There are only three s***s. One of them is a coward who never stepped up in queue gate. One of them is a coward because they never stepped up when I was being battered by one journalist….and the other one is just brand-orientated.
“Not what you expect, not what you think you’re going to get. When it all came to a sudden and very abrupt end, questions were asked about our toxic environment in Parliament!
“When you’ve given so much to somewhere and been so loyal, to have absolutely no loyalty shown to you. I know what I did was unwise, not sensible. But is it enough to absolutely destroy someone? Literally, destroy them.”
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby worked together for 14 years
PA
The presenter added that he does not “care any more” as he has “nothing to lose” and noted: “People just went who I thought were my friends and they just went. And that’s like ‘what the hell?’.”
Schofield and Willoughby worked side by side for 14 years on This Morning but have not been seen together since he left the show or shared comments or photos on social media.
Across the episodes, Schofield’s wife, Stephanie Lowe, is seen sharing her fears for the star after she stayed friends with him through everything, and explains: “What people don’t realise is that they batter you but then there are other people affected.
“There’s no question that by doing this you’re popping your head back up above the parapet for the very few horrid people that there are out there.”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Stephanie Lowe features in the episodes talking about how her husband coped
PA
Schofield’s daughter also shared her support for her father and admitted that whilst many thought the scandal would rip the family apart, it has actually brought them “closer” together.
She shared: “What people don’t realise is that they batter you but then there are other people affected. We’ve seen him in his lowest times, but I’ve been so proud of him, and as a daughter to see the love that people had for him that when it’s taken away it’s just heartbreaking.
“Weirdly everything that’s happened recently has made us closer. When my dad came out, it was, it was very hard for me. It was very hard for the entire family. Mainly my mum, of course, everything was turned upside down. But we talked through it and over time it’s got easier.”