Phillip Schofield receives Dame Joanna Lumley's support on return to TV in Cast Away
Phillip Schofield has used his return to TV screens to discuss being cancelled, mental health and coming out as an older man.
Stranded on a deserted island off the coast of Madagascar as part of a special Cast Away show, the former This Morning Presenter spoke about his “unwise and unprofessional” affair with a younger male colleague that saw him leave ITV less than two years ago.
“It’s like the biggest grenade going off in your life,” he said on the Channel 5 programme.
“One minute you’re there and then the next minute you’re gone, you know what it feels like to be cancelled.
“I will be forever sorry, I screwed up, I made a mistake.”
Since leaving ITV in May 2023, Schofield said his life became “dark”.
Speaking to the cameras, Schofield said he had been close to hospitalisation and credited his daughters with helping him “take a step back from the edge”.
The 62-year-old said coming out as gay later in life - which he did on an episode of This Morning – had also brought “more anguish than joy”.
“Because I’m fully aware of the damage that it leaves,” he said.
“I still have the love of my family, never wavered.”
His daughter, Molly, will also appear on the new show when it airs on Monday night.
“When my dad came out, it was… very hard for me, it was very hard for the entire family – mainly my mum,” she said on the programme.
“Everything was turned upside down.”
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Despite telling people to "let me get on with the quiet life you’ve all given me”, Schofield used the show to say it was "inconceivable" he would ever quit.
“Cancellation is a funny old thing, because, if you’re cancelled, then that’s it," he said.
“I think there’d be an awful lot of people that hope I never come back.
"I don’t quit, I’m fired but I never quit.”
Dame Joanna Lumley has sent a message of support to Schofield ahead of his TV return.
The Absolutely Fabulous actress was similarly cast away off the coast of Madagascar in a 1994 BBC programme, Girl Friday.
“These are the tips I’ve got; keep your knives sharp, spend much of the day trying to find wood otherwise you won’t be able to eat anything,” wrote the 78-year-old.
“I shall be thinking of you all the time Phil.
“Actually, I’m a little bit jealous.”
The three-part series airs on Monday night.
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