Phillip Schofield Almost Died While Presenting ‘Talking Telephone Numbers’ With Claudia Winkleman

Phillip Schofield has revealed that he had a scary near-death experience when he was presenting ‘Talking Telephone Numbers’ with Claudia Winkleman back in the 90s.

TV presenting isn’t always as easy as it looks, eh?

Copyright [ITV/REX/Shutterstock]

Recalling his lucky escape to Holly Willoughby on This Morning, Phillip explained that it was a drop box stunt that almost ended in disaster.

During a segment about lucky moments, he explained: “So we were doing ‘Talking Telephone Numbers’, which was a show I presented with Claudia Winkleman. It was nearly the end of me.

“We were standing, we were rehearsing and we were a bit further apart than you would normally do in a rehearsal and we were chatting away and reading through the lines and stuff.

“There was a big drop box up in the roof of the studio which was going to open up and drop confetti.

Copyright [Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock]

“We got to that stage of the script and somebody pressed the button and opened the drop box, which was right up in the roof but was full of chains and winch gear.

“As the drop box opened, all of the chains and all of the winches and the big pulleys dropped between us and you felt the drought as it went through. It chipped the floor. The studio floor is still chipped.”

He added: “And that was our lucky day, both Claudia Winkleman and I.”

Yikes. Thank goodness they both escaped unharmed!