Phillip Schofield says the “utter betrayal” by his television colleagues has made him never want to be a daytime presenter again as he returned to the limelight.
The former This Morning presenter (62) will be seen on screen in Channel 5’s Phillip Schofield: Cast Away, his first appearance on a TV series since he left ITV in May 2023 after he admitted to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague.
When he resigned more than a year ago, he denied that he had been “forced out” of the ITV daytime programme, and said he was “so very, very sorry” for lying to the channel, his colleagues, wife and friends.
However, on the fourth day on the small island of Nosy Ankarea, off the coast of Madagascar, Schofield claims he was “chucked under a bus”, and added that he could do the same to others, but he is “not that sort of person”.
Matt Cooper: I’m an only child. I’ve always been conscious of not having brothers or sisters
Irish WWE star Lyra Valkyria: ‘At its core, we’re storytellers. Everything comes down to good versus evil’
TV guide: the best new shows to watch, starting tonight
2024 in radio: chaotic exodus of Doireann Garrihy, Jennifer Zamparelli and the 2 Johnnies hangs over 2FM
On the second episode, he also says he had expected to “die on live television at 93”, but now he does not think he wants to “do it any more”, as he has been “hurt so badly” by being a presenter, and “some of the people on that sort of telly”.
[ Phillip Schofield TV comeback trailer: ‘Should an affair absolutely destroy me?’Opens in new window ]
Schofield says that when he started at the BBC as a booking clerk at 19, he first was able to go to Television Centre, where ITV’s This Morning was later filmed, and he “loved being there”.
He added: “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.
“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.”
He added that “people can be so fake with you when it’s all going well, and suddenly utter, utter betrayal”.
He also claims the relationship would not have mattered if he was not gay, and suggested an affair with a woman would have meant a “pat on the back”.
Schofield said: “I think another TV presenter or two might have done exactly the same thing, difference is heterosexual, it’s not an unusual thing in the gay world, for there to be a difference in age groups.”
In reference to allegations of toxicity on This Morning, the former presenter say he learned about the allegations following his departure from the daytime programme – and took aim at three people he was “aware of”.
After the furore over Schofield’s admission of the relationship with a younger male colleague, former This Morning doctor Ranj Singh hit out at a “toxic” culture on the programme.
Dr Ranj claimed he raised concerns about “bullying and discrimination” while working at ITV – and afterwards felt like he was “managed out” for whistleblowing.
Schofield said there was “no toxicity” on the programme at the time, and his allegations were about the “same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice”.
On the second episode of the Channel 5 show, he addressed the claims again, saying at first it was “utter bollocks”, before saying that “there wasn’t [toxicity] when I was there”.
“I found out after I left that there are a few people in there that might be a little bit toxic,” he added.
“I never saw it ... when [you’re] on the telly, you don’t see stuff like that, you’re protected from it, people don’t tell you, so I had no clue.”
Schofield also said that morning TV has a lot of “amazing” people, before taking aim at what he called “three shits”.
He called two of them cowards – one for not defending him over “queuegate”, and the second for not “stepping up” over another matter, which he did not clarify.
The final person, he said, was “just brand-orientated”.
Along with his then co-host Holly Willoughby, Schofield faced a backlash over claims the pair skipped the queue for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s lying in state. They were defended by the chief executive of ITV, Dame Carolyn McCall, who stressed the pair had been attending as members of the media to film a segment for This Morning.
On day six, he takes on the challenge of climbing the island’s mountain, and reflects on life outside of TV work.
A video is also shown from before taking on the challenge, where says: “You’ve got to look elsewhere, and you’ve got to see, where does that path go? Because I can’t go down that one any more.”
On reaching the summit, he cited the poem “Welcome To Holland” – where someone going on holiday to Italy goes somewhere they do not expect – by Emily Perl Kingsley that his therapist sent to him.
While looking out at the view, Schofield says: “Holland is a lovely place, with lovely people… and it’s not quite where you thought you were going to go, but it’s rewarding and it gives moments like this.”
ITV has been contacted for comment. – PA
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away airs at 9pm on Monday on Channel 5, and will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday at the same time.
