Phillip Schofield has seemingly called out his ex-best friend and former co-presenter Holly Willoughby during the first episode of his new show Cast Away.
The 62-year-old will soon make his return to TV in the Channel 5 series, where he is left to fend for himself on a tropical island for 10 days as he reflects on what has happened over the course of the last 16 months, following his scandal.
It was announced earlier this week that the former This Morning host would be making his comeback, with Channel 5 describing the series as a ‘celebrity marooned on an inhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar for 10 days’.
The first episode will air on Monday (30 September), and it begins with the presenter being asked why he wants to take on the challenge of living on his own on the island, to which he said: “I think there’d be an awful lot of people that hope I never come back.”
He also opened up on how ‘lucky’ he was throughout his four-decade career, saying that his time as the host of This Morning was a ‘privilege’ and added that he knew ‘what it feels like to be cancelled’ following the ‘abrupt end’ to his time on the ITV show.
“It’s like the biggest grenade going off in your life, and you know you let people down, you’ve let yourself down, and it was unwise and [an] unprofessional thing to do, I will be forever sorry, I screwed up, I made a mistake, and I hurt the people around me,” he stated.
However, one other moment from the first episode has stolen the headlines.
Schofield showed that there was no love lost with Willoughby (Channel 5)
Schofield has seemingly mocked his old co-host and former ‘on-screen wife’, as the nation saw it, Holly Willoughby.
In Willoughby’s first episode of This Morning since news broke Schofield was having an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a young colleague, Willoughby opened the show by asking: “Firstly, are you OK?”
During the early stages of Cast Away, while having a barbecue with his wife and two daughters, he says: “If you’re OK then we’re OK and I’m OK.
“Are you OK?”
It’s seemingly a swipe at Willoughby, someone who he was very close to, but has now lost touch with – though this is not the only time that he takes a jab at his former colleagues on his new show.
When eating a fruit, he says: “It’s going through an angry bitter stage… like some television presenters haha.”
During the upcoming series, Schofield also praises his daughters Ruby and Molly, for being the reason that he is still here after having suicidal thoughts, while also revealing that he has a close relationship with his wife Stephanie following the affair, as he wears his wedding ring on the island.
The presenter praises his family for sticking by him in the first episode (Channel 5)
Before going on the tropical island, just off the coast of Madagascar, Molly highlighted that the events last year brought the family ‘closer’ and that she is ‘proud of him’ after seeing him ‘at his lowest times’.
“I never thought it would have gone the way it has but to have my parents still best friends… I’m the luckiest person ever,” she added.
Schofield also paid tribute to his family, stating: “Some families can adapt, some families can’t. Without them I wouldn’t be here. I still have the love of my family. Never wavered.”
The presenter’s wife also weighed in, explaining: “What people don’t realise is that they batter you but then 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.”
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away will air its first episode 9pm on Monday, September 30.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
Phillip Schofield is set to make a dramatic return to the silver screen as the former This Morning host will be the focus of a Channel 5 special.
The 62-year-old has reportedly been filming a TV special called Cast Away, where he will give up his regular everyday life for 10 days while living on a tropical island and reflecting on what has happened in the past couple of years.
Described by Channel 5 as a ‘celebrity marooned on an inhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar for 10 days’, it comes 16-months after the presenter’s dramatic departure from ITV’s This Morning, which he had presented for 21 years.
The former This morning host will be back on our screens soon (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
His inclusion in the show was secretly filmed, and the TV personality will be discussing his scandalous departure from ITV, as well as how he has been coping, all while surviving and fending for himself on the island.
The British presenter will speak about how he has been emotionally impacted, while it is understood that Schofield has been given a handheld camera, body cameras and a sound pack before being left to record his soul-searching journey.
This news comes after the presenter posted an upcoming announcement on his Instagram story, posting: “Watch this space…9am.”
A source told The Sun: “Over the past few months Phil has had quite a few offers for various things – but has steadfastly turned them all down.
“This sort of challenge has always appealed to him though and after consulting with friends and family, he decided to go for it. It’s all been top secret, and has been an incredibly quick turnaround in order to keep the news quiet.
“After 42 years on telly, Phillip has learnt from some great crews and teams on how to film and tell a story.”
They also added that there would be ‘no camera crews or production around’, saying that Schofield ‘shot some unbelievably raw footage’, which will make for ’emotional viewing’.
“But he wanted a chance to share his story, unedited and honest, and let viewers see another side to him,” they explained.
“Whilst this is a massive coup for Channel 5, and huge for Phillip, he’s in no rush to come back to TV full-time yet; he remains very bruised, and is just taking some time now to weigh things up before he makes any major decisions.”
Phillip Schofield will be back on our screens next week (Channel 5)
The presenter resigned from the ITV show in May of last year after admitting to an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a younger male colleague, while being married to Stephanie Lowe, with the two having two children together during their 30-year marriage.
Following his departure, This Morning co-host Holly Willoughby left the show five months later, after sharing the sofa with Schofield for 14 years.
During the weekend just past, Channel 5 posted a clip on social media teasing a mystery star walking across a remote beach, as part of their ‘brand new’ desert island programme.
Cast Away will be a three-part series that is set to air on Monday evening (30 September) on Channel 5, and will be Schofield’s first work since leaving ITV.
Phillip Schofield is returning to TV, and he has been opening up about the day it was revealed that he was having an affair with a young staff member on This Morning.
The disgraced TV presenter stepped down from his position on This Morning after his affair with a younger member of staff came to light.
He will return to TV screens Monday night at 9pm on Channel 5 with Cast Away – a show that will see him stranded on a desert island for 10 days with no food or water.
The return has drawn criticism, with many calling it an attempt to try and repair Schofield’s image.
The former This Morning presenter met the young staffer when he was 15, getting him work experience at ITV when he was 19.
The pair started a relationship when he was 20, and Schofield was married.
LADbible saw the first episode of the new show prior to its release. Talking about his exit from This Morning, Schofield says: “When it came to a sudden very abrupt end, you know one minute you’re there and then the next minute you’re gone, you know what it feels like to be cancelled.
Schofield is controversially returning to TV (Channel 5)
“It’s like the biggest grenade going off in your life, and you know you let people down, you’ve let yourself down, and it was unwise and unprofessional thing to do.
“I will be forever sorry, I screwed up, I made a mistake, and I hurt the people around me.”
Regarding being cancelled he said: “Cancellation is a funny old thing, because, if you’re cancelled, then that’s it. I assume you’re dead. You can’t do anything. Everything you do is wrong.”
The former presenter referred to the day the news of his affair broke as ‘the worst day of my life’.
He also revealed in the show that, following the backlash, he had come close to ending his own life.
Schofield called the day the affair was revealed the worst day of his life (Channel 5)
He said he was ‘so so close’, adding: “I had everything in place, everything was set up and everything was ready.
“[His daughter] Molly said, ‘Do you imagine what this would do to us if you actually managed to pull this off? Imagine what would happen.
“’Can you imagine what it would do to me if you did this on my watch?’ And that was just enough to take a step back from the edge.
“I could have been hospitalised. I had the option to be hospitalised, but then I thought, that’s going to get out. So I just raced to the family home and shut the gates.”
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away airs at 9pm on Monday on Channel 5, and will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday at the same time.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
Phillip Schofield has revealed in his TV return Cast Away on Channel 5 that he was ‘so so close’ to taking his own life.
The former This Morning host is making his TV return in a show that will see him stranded on a remote island for 10 days entirely on his own with no food or water.
This comes after he stepped down from This Morning in 2023 following what he described as an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a young member of his team.
This resulted in a media uproar, with Schofield paying a reported ‘six figure sum’ to the young man he’d had the affair with for a non-disclosure agreement.
The former This Morning presenter first met the young man when he was 15, and got him work experience at ITV when he was 19.
The relationship is believed to have begun a year later, when Schofield was still married to his wife Stephanie Lowe.
In an early viewing of the first episode of Cast Away shown to LADbible, we can reveal that Schofield revealed on the show that, as a result of the scandal, he got ‘so so close’ to ending his life.
The presenter cut a forlorn figure in the first episode (Channel 5)
Whilst it is not explicitly worded by the former presenter, it is clearly implied that he had made plans to kill himself in the show.
He says, filming himself as he is appearing on the show with no cameramen, that his daughters Ruby and Molly were looking after him at the time.
He said he got ‘so, so close’. He went on to add: “I had everything in place, everything was set up and everything was ready”.
He added: “[His daughter] Molly said, ‘Do you imagine what this would do to us if you actually managed to pull this off? Imagine what would happen. Can you imagine what it would do to me if you did this on my watch’, and that was just enough to take a step back from the edge.”
Schofield’s return has faced a large amount of criticism (Channel 5)
“I could have been hospitalised. I had the option to be hospitalised, but then I thought, that’s going to get out. So I just raced to the family home and shut the gates.”
Regarding what the affair he deems a ‘mistake’, Schofield says in the episode: “It’s like the biggest grenade going off in your life, and you know you let people down, you’ve let yourself down, and it was unwise and (an) unprofessional thing to do.
“I will be forever sorry, I screwed up, I made a mistake, and I hurt the people around me.”
He went on to say regarding cancellation: “Cancellation is a funny old thing, because, if you’re cancelled, then that’s it. I assume you’re dead. You can’t do anything. everything you do is wrong”.
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away will air its first episode 9pm on Monday, September 30.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
This Morning has issued a statement after host Holly Willoughby announced she would be stepping down from the show after 14 years.
Speaking about Willoughby’s decision to leave after more than a decade, ITV’s managing director, media and entertainment, Kevin Lygo said: “We are sad that Holly is leaving This Morning, but respect her decision which we know will have been extremely difficult for her to make.
“Holly is one of the best loved, respected and most accomplished broadcasters in the UK. She has been at the heart of This Morning for the past 14 years, and she is adored by our viewers.
“Holly has brought her unique brand of warmth, energy, humour and fun to one of the country’s most popular daytime shows, and everyone on the programme will miss her enormously.
“She remains a much loved member of the ITV family and we look forward to continuing to work with her in the future.”
Willoughby joined the long-running daytime TV show as Phillip Schofield’s co-host in 2009.
Earlier today, Willoughby shared a ‘difficult goodbye’ after spending 14 years fronting the show.
In a post on Instagram, she said: “I’ve let ITV know today that after 14 years, I will not be returning to This Morning.
“To everyone who has ever worked on the show over the years, thank you so so much. This is such a difficult goodbye, you are incredible and I forever will be proud of what we’ve done together. Thank you to everyone at ITV for being supportive. To every guest who has sat on our sofa, thank you.
“Most of all, thank you to the wonderful viewers. You’ve been so loyal, so supportive and the very best company every day.
“Richard and Judy said ‘we only look after this show, it will always belong to the views’. It’s been an honour to just be part of it’s story and I know this story has many chapters left to go. Sadly, however, I now feel I have to make this decision for me and my family.
“I will miss you all so much. Holly”
