Yahoo News Phillip Schofield calls ITV exit "the biggest grenade going off" in his life
Phillip Schofield has likened his exit from ITV to “the biggest grenade going off” in his life.
The presenter, who resigned from his role with the broadcaster in 2023, returned to the small screen with Channel 5 show Cast Away on Monday (September 30), in which he spends 10 days on a remote island just off the coast of Madagascar in complete isolation.
In a pre-recorded VT, Schofield shed light on his departure from the station, remarking: “It all came to a sudden and very abrupt end, one minute you’re there and the next you’re gone. Knowing what it feels like to be cancelled and to be coldly reported in headline news, it is like the biggest grenade going off in your life.
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“You know you’ve let people and yourself down. You know that it was an unwise and unprofessional thing to do. I’ll be forever sorry – I screwed up and made a mistake. I hurt the people around me.
“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. But I am not doing this as a ‘poor me’ – I don’t have a right [to do that].”
Before his departure for Madagascar, Schofield shared a final meal with his wife and two daughters, with Molly – his eldest daughter – remarking that they had grown closer over the past year.
“Weirdly, everything that has happened recently has made us closer,” she said. “We’ve seen him in his lowest times, but I’ve been so proud of him. As a daughter, to see the love that people had for him taken away, it’s just heartbreaking.”
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Schofield resigned from ITV, including his co-hosting roles on This Morning and Dancing on Ice, in 2023. He later acknowledged he'd had a "consensual" affair with a "younger male colleague" while working on This Morning but maintained the relationship was "unwise, but not illegal".
At the time, the presenter apologised for lying "to [his] employers at ITV, to [his] colleagues and friends, to [his] agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to [his] family".
ITV disclosed that it had previously investigated claims of an affair involving Schofield but found no evidence to substantiate pursuing the matter further at the time.
Jane Mulcahy KC subsequently led an inquiry into the behind-the-scenes culture at This Morning, which ended last December with "no finding of a 'toxic' culture" on set. Schofield chose not to take part in this investigation, citing "the risk to his health", according to the published report.
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ITV plc's chairman Andy Cosslett said of the Mulcahy Inquiry findings: "The KC makes it clear that the senior management of ITV and the senior team of This Morning were unaware of the nature of the relationship until Philip Schofield’s statement in May 2023. We also asked the KC to review how we acted towards Person X and the KC has found that the company provided significant support to him.
"I hope that the completion of this review allows the team at This Morning to get back to what they do so well – making a brilliant show that entertains and informs millions of viewers every week.”
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