‘I was thrown under the bus’, blasts Phillip Schofield in veiled dig at Holly Willoughby after ITV scandal
PHILLIP Schofield tells on his new show how there are parts of TV he does not miss — as he makes a string of jibes at his former This Morning co-host Holly Willoughby.
The telly veteran, 62, opens up on his bombshell exit from ITV ahead of being sent to a desert island for Channel 5 documentary Cast Away.
Phillip discusses how he was forced to leave This Morning after 22 years following a fling with a much younger runner — and hints at a lack of support from his long-time friend and co-host Holly, 43.
He says: “I miss parts of being on TV certainly. I miss most of it, if I’m honest, I miss most of it. But there are bits that I really, really, really don’t miss.
“You learn a lot about people, I don’t miss that.”
He adds in the show, starting on Monday: “When you throw someone under a bus, you’ve got to have a really bloody good reason to do it.”
Phillip also appeared to mock the cringeworthy moment when Holly broached the subject of his departure on This Morning, as she bizarrely opened the show with the words: “Are you OK?”
He is seen having a family barbecue in the garden of his London home and handing food to wife Stephanie Lowe and their daughters Molly, 31, and Ruby, 28.
As he does so he laughs: “If you’re OK, then we’re OK, and I’m OK …are you OK?”
Holly – who is never mentioned by name – is not the only target in the programme, which will run over three consecutive nights.
In another scene he appears to sever ties with his former employers ITV, where he worked for decades on a string of shows including Dancing On Ice.
He says: “I’m apparently four to one to do the other jungle programme (ITV’s I’m A Celebrity)
“Although my best mates host it, there are some channels you just won’t work for.
“There are just some people you won’t work for.”
He also blames himself in Phillip Schofield: Cast Away, which sees him forced to forage and hunt for food and water and live in a flimsy shelter on the beach.
Discussing his fling, he admits: “It was an unwise and unprofessional thing to do, I will be forever sorry. You know, I screwed up. I made a mistake, and I hurt the people around me.”
Phillip, who is still seen wearing his wedding ring, reveals that he did not resign last year from This Morning, but was axed.
Asked if he thought he might end up quitting the deserted island, just off the coast of Madagascar, he says: “It is inconceivable that I would quit.
The biggest grenade going off in your life. It all came to a sudden, very abrupt end – one minute you’re there and then you’re gone. You know what it feels like to be cancelled
Phillip Schofield
“I don’t quit. I’m fired. But I never quit.”
Phillip also explains why he wants to do the new show, which was revealed exclusively in The Sun this week.
He says: “This is the first time I’ve sat in front of a camera since the worst day of my life. I’ve spent so much time reflecting but if you do it in four walls, then nothing changes.”
Describing his departure from TV as “the biggest grenade going off in your life,” he adds: “It all came to a sudden, very abrupt end.
“One minute you’re there and then you’re gone. You know what it feels like to be cancelled.”
Phillip says that he was also subjected to horrendous abuse on social media in the wake of his exit and had to turn off the comments.
But he hopes being marooned for ten days can help “set him free” as he vows that he “will not be defeated”.
He says: “You get battered. It hurts. It really, really hurts. This is such a chunk of my life that I’ve just been sad.
“But now, I want to see if the ultimate isolation can finally set me free…as I’m marooned on a desert island for ten whole days.
“Can I turn a corner? This is another world. It’s nice to discover new things about yourself and unearth a new path for myself.
“I will find a way. I will not be defeated. I just feel my toxicity tanks emptying out.
“I hope that I have a positive experience for me and that I am given a fair crack of the whip…hopefully. But I am not doing this as a ‘poor me’ I don’t have the right to a ‘poor me’.”
His family are also seen talking for the first time about the moment he came out as gay in February 2020 as well as the scandal surrounding his exit from This Morning last May.
His wife defends her husband and talks about the abuse he has received over the past 18 months — but admits he could be in for more flak with the new show.
Stephanie says: “What people don’t realise is that they batter you, but there are other people affected.
“There’s no question, by doing this, you’re popping your head back up above the parapet for the very few horrid people that there are out there.”
Meanwhile, daughter Molly tells of how “proud” she is of her “amazing” father.
She says: “Weirdly, everything that’s happened recently has made us closer. We’ve seen him in his lowest times. But I’ve been so proud of him. So proud of him.
On a desert island. You can’t fake it. This is the real you. So you can’t hide anything. And I really hope that people see him how we see him. Because he is just amazing
Phillip's daughter Molly
“As a daughter, to see the love that people have for him. But when it’s taken away, it’s just heartbreaking. On a desert island. You can’t fake it. This is the real you.
“So you can’t hide anything. And I really hope that people see him how we see him. Because he is just amazing.”
However she fears that his lack of practical skills may be a problem.
She says: “The DIY I’m really nervous about, because he can’t. He can’t do it. He can do a lot of things, but he can’t do DIY.”
Molly also recalls the moment her dad came out live on This Morning, with Holly by his side.
She says: “When my dad came out, 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. My mum and my sister, we’re all the same. We will always continue to support him, no matter what.
“I never thought it would have gone the way it has. But to have my parents still best friends is just… I’m the luckiest person ever.”
Talking about coming out, Phillip says: “For me, doing it later in life, at the moment, it’s just given me more anguish than joy. Because I’m fully aware of the damage that it leaves. I still have the love of my family. Never wavered.”
Of his new show, he says: “The family think it’s a great idea. And we’ve talked a lot about it.
“None of them are particularly happy with the limelight. Especially not the limelight I’ve given them recently.”
Phillip welled up with tears on multiple occasions as he paid tribute to his family, especially dad Brian, who died in 2008 after having a heart attack.
When my dad came out, it was very hard for me. It was very hard for the entire family, mainly my mum of course
Phillip's daughter Molly
With his voice breaking, he says: “He was so kind and so caring and so loving and so generous. My dad was my hero.
“A lot’s changed since then. There was a lot I’m glad he didn’t see.”
He also reveals how he had the double agony of losing his job on This Morning quickly followed by his mother Pam falling ill.
But it also came with an unexpected moment of kindness from a stranger.
He recalls: “My mum got sick and I had to get in the car. The first time I’d been out through the gates, I found the courage to get in the car and drive down to Cornwall to look after my mum who was critically ill.
“I walked into the reception of the hospital, and there was this big guy, with his big red face and big arms and tattoos and I walked into the reception trying to find where the intensive care unit was and this guy said, ‘Schofield?’ And I said, ‘Yeah?’ And I thought, ‘Oh s***!’
“He said, ‘Can I give you a hug mate?’ I said: ‘Actually, do you know, you can?’ And he gave me a massive, massive hug.
“He said: ‘They’re all s***s mate, they’re all s***s.’”