Phillip Schofield tearfully admits he's 'glad' dad 'didn't see' affair scandal

Phillip Schofield was seen holding back tears as he spoke about his father on his new show.

Formerly a regular face on daytime TV, the presenter made shockwaves when he was revealed to be working on a new programme for Channel 5 titled Phillip Schofield: Cast Away, which aired this Monday, September 30, 2024. In his three-part series, Schofield, 62, faced 10 days of survival, cast adrift off the coast of Madagascar, trying to survive alone on the unpopulated island of Nosy Ankara, as he foraged for food and water in a gruelling challenge.

But amid his efforts to survive, Phillip has let slip several bombshells, more than a year after he left ITV, abandoning his hosting duties on This Morning and Dancing On Ice. After lifting the lid on his sacking, Phillip opened up about his late father Brian, a man he calls "his hero", his eyes red and teary. "There's a lot of thing I'm glad he didn't see", he admitted. Phillip has often spoken out about his father, who died from a long-standing heart condition in 2008.

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Back in 2020, Phillip said that his late father would have been proud of him, shortly after his coming-out. "When I went down to Cornwall when I told my mum, I said, 'What do you think dad would have said? Would he still be proud?'", he told Chris Evans on the latter's podcast How to Wow.

During a chat with a caller on This Morning, he had also said: "My dad died in 2008, he'd been poorly for a long time. We knew it was going to happen, but when it finally did happen we heard from the hospital."

"It is this extraordinary physical thing that a person who is near the end of their life who without even knowing maybe, waits until family have left the room and then they go quietly on their own."

Phillip's new project came after months of speculation during which it was suggested that Phillip was working on a TV comeback behind the scenes, after leaving ITV last year, when his affair with a younger member of staff was revealed to the public. These revelations came at another cost for Phillip Schofield as it was also alleged that the affair had driven a wedge between him and former co-host Holly Willoughby, who also left This Morning in 2023.

In an emotional interview with the BBC ’s Amor Rajan last June, a visibly shaking Schofield said he’d stay out of the limelight and didn’t see a future for his career. Now reports claim that he could be preparing his comeback on ITV after all.

After starring in his own survival show, Phillip Schofield has most recently been speculated to take part in the upcoming series of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. Odds have been placed at 3/1 for him to venture into the Jungle next, according to bookmakers betideas.com. In addition to this, he's also been given odds of 5/1 to present a show on Channel 5, with a Celebrity Big Brother appearance at 6/1.

Further down the betting list are roles as a presenter on ITV (16/1), BBC (25/1). And despite his epic departure, a comeback to ITV's This Morning at 50/1, and an unlikely co-hosting role alongside Holly Willoughby at 66/1.

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