Phillip Schofield‘s daughter attended a secret meeting with ITV where she told bosses to apologise privately to her father for forcing him out at This Morning over his affair with a male producer, it was revealed today.
Molly Schofield, 30, demanded to know if the star, 62, who she now personally represents as his publicist, had been ‘blacklisted’ by the broadcaster during private talks in the spring.
Miss Schofield, who also uses her mother’s maiden name Lowe, said her famous father had been treated unfairly in the scandal that led to his departure from the show in May 2023 after 21 years at the helm.
ITV apparently told her that Mr Schofield was not blacklisted – but would not be offered any apology from them with the star making overtures for a sensational return, according to The Times.
Details of the behind-the-scenes row have emerged as Mr Schofield makes his prime time comeback tonight in Channel 5 survival show Cast Away, which he insists will be his final TV appearance.
He had to fend for himself for 10 days on a remote island paradise, located off the coast of Madagascar, but has also used the show to settle some scores and apparently take aim at his former co-star and one time ‘best friend’ Holly Willoughby.
During the three-part programme, the 62-year-old appears to blame his swift and dramatic fall from grace on a trio of former colleagues who he calls ‘the three s***ts.’ It is strongly hinted that Willoughby is one of them – the other two are probably ITV executives.
He adds: ‘I’ve been chucked under a bus and I could drive the same bus over so many people. But I’m not that sort of person, I never have been.’
And hitting back at claims that he was the one who quit This Morning, he said: ‘Oh it is inconceivable that I would quit’, adding: ‘I’m fired but I never quit’. However, fresh details about Schofield’s departure have revealed that he did make attempts to return to the broadcaster.
Schofield makes his TV comeback tonight in Channel 5 survival show Cast Away, which sees him fend for himself for 10 days on a remote island paradise, located off the coast of Madagascar
Schofield and his daughter Molly Lowe in 2022. It has been revealed that Phillip Schofield ‘s daughter attended a secret meeting with ITV where it has asked if the disgraced star was blacklisted and they demanded that the broadcaster apologies to Schofield
Schofield with his former colleague Holly Willoughby. Last year’s scandal led to the severing of ties between Schofield and ITV after 30 years and also fatally damaged his relationship with Willoughby
Mr Schofield says he left This Morning and was at an all time low, coming close to killing himself.
He spent time in Cornwall with his mother Pat and also sold his flat in central London for around £1million.
Phillip was seen walking the dogs with his wife Stephanie and daughters Molly and Ruby.
He returned to Instagram in May to show himself working out and getting fit, presumably in part to prepare for his Cast Away show, which was filmed secretly over the summer.
But before the trip to an island off off the coast of east Africa, The Times has reported that in the spring a meeting took place between Schofield’s former agency, YMU, ITV bosses and Schofield’s new representatives – which included his eldest daughter Molly Lowe.
Ms Lowe now personally represents her father since YMU dropped the ex-This Morning host when the scandal broke.
In the meeting the boss of YMU, Paul Worsley, and Ms Lowe are alleged to have said they felt ITV’s treatment of Schofield during the scandal was unfair.
They then also asked if the former darling of the broadcaster had been ‘blacklisted’ and if ITV would apologise privately.
ITV responded by saying they did not have a blacklist and that there would be no apology.
An insider at ITV told the The Times that Schofield had caused ITV ‘enormous pain’ after he ‘repeatedly told execs – looking them in the eye – that he was not having an affair, always denying it when asked.’
Schofield quit ITV’s This Morning after finally admitting to having lied about an ‘unwise, but not illegal’ affair with a much younger male colleague.
Colleagues are said to be split.
One told The Times: ‘This Morning is happier without him. You always felt like you were walking on eggshells when he was there. He had an almost oppressive hold on the show.”
But a supporter added: ‘There’s a lot of people who happily basked in Phillip’s glory for many years and then just ditched him’.
The scandal led to the severing of ties between Schofield and ITV after 30 years and also fatally damaged his relationship with Willoughby.
Willoughby and Schofield had once been best friends and even went on family holidays together. When Schofield came out as gay in 2020 she told him during an interview on This Morning: ‘I have never been more proud of my friend than I am today.’
During the three-part programme, the 62-year-old appears to blame his swift and dramatic fall from grace on a trio of former colleagues who he calls ‘the three s***ts.’ It is strongly hinted that Willoughby is one such colleague
Schofield and Willoughby once called each other ‘best friends’ Now, their friendship has broken down to the extent that Willoughby is allegedly one of the three s***ts mentioned in the new documentary
Now, their friendship has broken down to the extent that Willoughby – along with This Morning editor Martin Frizell and ITV chief Dame Carolyn McCall – is allegedly one of the three s***ts mentioned in the new documentary.
Schofield refers to one former colleague as ‘brand oriented.’
This has been interpreted as a reference to Willoughby’s lifestyle empire – since she has been a brand ambassador for companies such as Marks & Spencer and Diet Coke in the past.
He also seemingly mocks Willoughby’s much ridiculed return to This Morning after the scandal where she opened the show by asking viewers: ‘Are you ok?’ by repeating the line to his family.
In one outburst which will leave viewers wondering whether it is aimed at her, Schofield says: ‘When you throw someone under a bus, you’ve got to have a really bloody good reason to do it.
‘I got into telly because I love the nuts and bolts of telly, I never wanted to be famous. I’m not fussed about that.
‘I miss parts of it. I miss most of it, I’m honest. But there are bits that I really, really, really don’t miss. You learn a lot about people. I don’t miss that.’
While on the island, he continues to take aim at those who he believes wronged him, Schofield added of his formerly long-standing TV career: ‘They know how important that was to me.
‘They know when you throw someone under a bus, you’ve got to have a really bloody good reason to do it. Brand, ambition is not good enough.
‘People can be fake. They can be so fake with you when it’s all going well, and suddenly utter, utter betrayal.
‘There are a lot of amazing people in morning television.’
It comes after insiders revealed how ITV bosses are said to be furious at Schofield for claiming he would have been treated differently if he had had an affair with a woman rather than a man.
Schofield refers to one former colleague as ‘brand oriented.’ This has been interpreted as a reference to Willoughby as she has been a brand ambassador for companies such as Marks & Spencer (pictured: Willouhgby launching her collection at the store in 2019)
Insiders revealed how ITV bosses are said to be furious at Schofield for claiming he would have been treated differently if he had had an affair with a woman rather than a man
The disgraced presenter said he would have got a ‘pat on the back’ it wasn’t a homosexual relationship.
However, ITV insiders say is ‘totally untrue’ to suggest he would have been treated differently because it was a gay romance.
During the show, Schofield refers to himself as the ‘shamed, disgraced Phillip Schofield, who had an affair’.
The 62-year-old said: ‘Strangely, I think another TV presenter or two might have done exactly the same thing. Difference is heterosexual. It’s not an unusual thing in the gay world for there to be a difference in age groups.’
‘That’s not that unusual in the straight world, but if that had been the case with me and it had been a woman. Pat on the back. Well done, mate.’
Schofield said that he ‘has regrets’ and acknowledges he ‘got something wrong’ and ‘hurt the people’ around him.
‘I don’t know what price you’re supposed to pay and whether the price you’re paying is necessarily proportionate,’ he adds.
Hitting back, a source at the channel previously said: ‘It’s a stupid thing for Phil to say, and it is just not true. Phil lied to his colleagues, his bosses and his friends about it, it wouldn’t have mattered if it was a woman or a man.’
They add that Schofield is unlikely to work with the channel again despite his hints that he had been approached to appear on their reality show, I’m A Celeb. One source said: ‘He lied to us, it would be really, really difficult.’
MailOnline have approached Phillip Schofield for a comment.