It’s been over a year since Phillip Schofield left This Morning in a cloud of scandal – after he admitted to having an affair with a much younger male colleague.
But after being absent from TV screens for 16 months, Phillip is set to return next week for Channel 5’s Cast Away.
Billed as ‘an authentic and intense physical and mental challenge’ Channel 5 confirmed that Phillip was ‘left alone with only a handful of cameras to document his own experience’.
Announcing the news on Instagram on Wednesday, Phillip wrote: ‘Now you know how I spent my Summer! Alone for 10 days, no food, no water, no crew. My story of survival, both on a desert island and off it.’
But what has the presenter’s life looked like since he stepped away from the screen?
From drafting in PR help from his family to reuniting with celebrity pals, here, MailOnline takes a look back at Phillip’s year off the air – ahead of his imminent return.
It’s been over a year since Phillip Schofield left This Morning in a cloud of scandal – after he admitted to having an affair with a much younger male colleague
From drafting in PR help from his family to reuniting with ITV pals, here, MailOnline takes a look back at Phillip’s year off the air – ahead of his imminent return
‘Story of survival’ TV comeback
Phillip broke down in tears in a trailer for the upcoming ‘survival’ show, as he said the scandal around his departure from This Morning ‘destroyed’ him.
The disgraced presenter spent his summer secretly filming a special three part series for Channel 5, which required him to give up his home comforts for 10 days of soul-searching on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean. He described it as his ‘story of survival’.
One clip from the show, released today, sees Phillip in tears telling the camera: ‘I know what I did was unwise, but is it enough to completely destroy someone?’
The series will air across three nights from Monday September 30 to Tuesday October 1, in three 60 minute instalments.
Phillip broke down in tears in a trailer for the upcoming ‘survival’ show, as he said the scandal around his departure from This Morning ‘destroyed’ him
It follows Phillip as he is cast away for ten days and nine nights on a remote, unpopulated island off the coast of Madagascar.
Viewers will see the axed presenter reflect on the emotional impact of his exile from mainstream TV after news of his affair with a 20-year-old runner on This Morning came to light.
It’s understood that Phillip was given a handheld camera, body cameras and a sound pack before being left to record his emotional week-and-a-half long journey.
Drafting in family PR help
Phillip was swiftly dropped by his agents at YMU Group last year after he admitted his affair with a younger staffer.
But it seems his daughter has stepped up to the plate and taken over as his manager.
Phillip tasked his daughter Molly, 30, with the pleasure of representing him – turning his brand into a family one.
On talent database The Media Eye, Molly is listed as Phil’s manager and it appears she is now running her own firm called MMS Projects.
Her first project appeared to be curating a new positive image online for Phil, it was revealed previously.
Phillip was swiftly dropped by his agents at YMU Group last year after he admitted his affair with a younger staffer – but it seems his daughter has stepped up to the plate and taken over as his manager (Pictured in August 2022)
Amid reports he is eyeing up a new career in television, Phil returned to posting on his Instagram earlier this year, positioning his dog Alfie front and centre.
Until January this year, Molly worked at YMU, the talent agency that represented Phil for 35 years.
Uncomfortably, it was reported that she was in the office when she learned her dad had confessed to his affair with a young male runner on This Morning.
Reuniting with celebrity pals
While absent from British TV screens, Phillip has been supported by his celebrity pals since leaving the channel.
In May, Phillip joined I’m A Celebrity host Declan Donnelly for a discreet four-hour dinner and drinks.
The dinner took place close to the fallen star’s West London home and also joining the giggling pair for dinner was Dec’s wife Ali Astall and Phillip’s pet pooch.
But it’s not just Ant who is said to have supported the star over the last year, as a source explained previously Alison Hammond was also in his corner.
The current This Morning presenter showed her support for Phillip in June when she liked an Instagram post, a picture of his pet pooch.
In May, Phillip joined I’m A Celebrity host Declan Donnelly for a discreet four-hour dinner and drinks, as it was revealed he was being supported by friends from ITV
Phillip and Dec’s dinner is the first time the pair have been seen publicly together since the This Morning scandal.
Onlookers reported that the pair looked in good spirits and were seen laughing and joking together like it was an ordinary night out.
A friend of the presenter revealed Phil’s plans for a possible return to TV as they spoke of his ITV friends’ support.
They said: ‘They have all been rallying around him and their support, especially from Dec who is such a good friend, has really helped Phil. Some TV executives have been in touch with Phil about a possible return and his friends have told him he should consider it.
Another friend by Phillip’s side was Vanessa Feltz – with the pair spotted smiling on a night out together last summer.
The pair were seen as they left the Little Bird restaurant in Chiswick, West London, with Phillip helping his long-term friend into her car before departing on foot.
In snaps of the outing, Phillip appeared to listen intensely to Vanessa as they walked to her car, before waving her off with a cheerful goodbye, ahead of her stint presenting This Morning.
Another friend by Phillip’s side was Vanessa Feltz – with the pair spotted smiling on a night out together last summer
Selling ‘plush’ flat used for ‘secret trysts’
In February it was revealed that Phillip had sold the flat where he used to spend ‘Playtime Thursdays’ with his younger lover, after slashing the asking price.
Phillip and his wife Stephanie were said to have put the ‘immaculate’ two-bedroom penthouse in south London on the market for £1.2million – £25,000 less than they paid in 2012 when it had just been built.
And in a listing by estate agent Cluttons it has since been described as ‘sale agreed’ – after they were advertising it for ‘offers in excess of £1million’.
The property was where Schofield would take his junior colleague for secret trysts before the studio runner left the next morning in a taxi paid for by ITV, his former colleague Eamonn Holmes claimed.
‘It has been on the market for a while now. Apparently there has been one offer recently but the buyer dropped out,’ a source told The Sun last year.
In February it was revealed that Phillip had sold the flat where he used to spend ‘Playtime Thursdays’ with his younger lover, after slashing the asking price (Pictured in the apartment)
‘It seems like the Schofields are now unfussed about making a profit and just want rid of it since their split.’
In an interview with Dan Wootton on GB News, Holmes claimed Schofield’s lover was secretly ferried between ITV’s studios and the presenter’s flat in an attempt to hide their affair.
The pair are said to have entered through an adjacent hotel to avoid any suspicions of their secret trysts.
Eamonn said: ‘Thursday was playtime when he and Phillip would hit the town and then he obviously stayed overnight. There are records to show that he was brought in the next day separately in cars paid for by ITV.’
Calling the younger man ‘lovely’, and a ‘really good talented fella’, he said the taxi to work on a Friday morning was part of a ‘cover-up’ by ITV bosses.