Unshaven, alone and foraging for food, Phillip Schofield cracks open a coconut and stares pensively out to the horizon in the first trailer of his surprise comeback show, Cast Away.
A far cry from his now shattered squeaky-clean daytime television presenter image, the lonely scene on a deserted island serves as the perfect backdrop for the disgraced presenter’s renaissance.
But his dramatic reappearance has caused anger in some quarters. Some television insiders have described Schofield’s new Channel 5 programme as ‘one big pity party’. And, I’m told, staff at the channel are ‘bloody furious’.
The Cast Away trailer reveals footage of Phillip Schofield on a deserted island
‘We think it’s outrageous to give him a platform at all,’ said one employee. ‘Rumours only started to go around the office last week, but it has been kept totally under wraps . . . so it has started a lot of gossip and discussion, as well as some anger.’
Schofield says that Cast Away is his ‘story of survival, both on a desert island and off it’.
But thousands of miles away, in the north of England, sits a young man whose struggles and isolation have been all too real – Schofield’s much younger former lover who he worked alongside on ITV’s This Morning.
Their relationship, behind Schofield’s wife’s back, spelled an end to the young man’s career as a television producer. His life shattered, he parted ways with ITV and since then has worked in pubs.
He has also moved between homes as he has struggled to piece his life back together. Needing help to make sense of the fall out, he was being aided by top London lawyers, Mishcon de Reya, until earlier this year.
In the Cast Away clip, Schofield, 62, says defiantly: ‘I can say whatever I want about whatever I want.’ But both he and his former lover, are, in theory, banned from speaking about one another.
Just eight months ago, I revealed Schofield had agreed a six-figure settlement, which came with a non-disclosure agreement for both sides.
So just what will he make of Schofield’s attempt at a comeback? Particularly when the agreement was supposed to signal an end to the scandal, allowing both men to move on with their lives.
Phillip Schofield says Cast Away is his ‘story of survival, both on a desert island and off it’
Those familiar with the situation say Schofield’s return to screens will come as a terrible new chapter in the saga that has blighted much of his former lover’s adult life. He is, says one friend of the former runner, likely to feel betrayed all over again.
‘Their fling ruined everything for him, it ripped his life to bits, he had to leave his job, and the whole industry really, and he had to deal with knowing that everyone in the business was talking about it,’ says one source. ‘But when he reached a settlement with Phillip last year, it was supposed to help him get back on his feet and move on with his life.
Now he has to see him back on the telly rebuilding his career a matter of months later.
‘Surely the point was that they were both quietly stepping away from it all? It almost feels like a fresh betrayal.’
The man, in his 20s, has yet to speak out about his relationship with Schofield and now those who know him wonder whether he may be tempted.
‘Well, you never know,’ they tell me. ‘This might even make him want to finally speak out after biting his tongue for years.’
The Mail first reported details of the pair’s financial agreement in February this year – with lawyers for Schofield, who appeared on the famous ITV sofa for years, confirming they had agreed the deal to help cover legal fees as well as compensation for the loss of his job and home. It was bound by a strict non-disclosure agreement for both sides – despite trailers for the new pre-recorded Cast Away series boasting that this would be Schofield’s ‘one chance to finally tell his story’.
Cast Away sees Schofield marooned alone for ten days in Madagascar – following in the footsteps of Joanna Lumley and Ruby Wax who both filmed similar ‘survival’ experiences.
Producers of the show, which was secretly filmed earlier this year, say there are no camera crews and no production staff, which led to ‘unbelievably raw’ footage. The comeback announcement, just 16 months after the shamed star left ITV, was made possible by Channel 5’s top boss, Director of Programming Ben Frow, who personally greenlit the three-part series and will oversee final content before it is first broadcast on Monday.
Flamboyant and theatrical, Frow’s achievements since being appointed in charge of the network have seen Channel 5 increase its audience share and even land its first ever Bafta win for Cruising With Jane Macdonald, a show he personally imagined and commissioned. Starting out at ITV as a stylist for Richard and Judy on This Morning, he worked his way through the ranks and climbed the industry ladder but admits he has always felt like he doesn’t fit in.
He previously said: ‘I am an outsider. I was an outsider at my choir school because I couldn’t really sing that well.
‘At my comprehensive school, I was a gay boy who spoke posh, so I was an outsider there. As a costume-maker, I wasn’t as good as other people. In a way, being an outsider liberates you, it gives me the confidence to sit on these panels and fight my corner.’
And a telly source explains: ‘If ever someone was going to be a good fit for a Phillip Schofield comeback, it’s probably Ben Frow. He is very clear about who he is and what he stands for, he knows his own mind and he sticks to it. He clearly wanted to give Phillip that opportunity despite the controversy around him.’ While Frow is possibly rubbing his hands together with glee over his coup, not to mention the prospect of high ratings, he kept it very much a secret – even from his senior colleagues.
Insiders at Channel 5 tell me that even Frow’s closest confidants at the network only found out at the end of last week. Most employees only learned of it on Monday. But Frow may be concerned to learn that his decision to attempt to rehabilitate Schofield has prompted an uprising from his staff.
‘It’s a bold move from Ben, the risk isn’t lost on anyone,’ says one employee. ‘Not just a risk when it comes to the programme but how much this has upset the staff.’
Cast Away is not exactly how Schofield saw his twilight years in television panning out.
Phillip Schofield stood down from ITV, where he presented This Morning with Holly Willoughby (pictured) after admitting that he had had an affair with a younger man
But it will delight him to be back in the public eye. Friends say he has missed the limelight, which came to a sensational end in May 2023 when he admitted to the Mail that he had had an affair with the former colleague behind his wife Stephanie Lowe’s back.
Schofield immediately stood down from ITV after admitting the affair. He has since kept a low profile. There were clues he may make a return, particularly by hiring his daughter Molly to manage him after she left talent agency YMU, the firm that represented her father for more than 30 years.
The exact contents of the show remain a tightly guarded secret –and final tweaks and changes could yet be made to the edit, especially if there are concerns over a backlash from the public or his former flame.
Despite bosses teasing bombshell revelations in the newly released trailer, the gagging clause agreed by the pair also applies to Schofield, who would risk a legal dispute if he opened up fully about the affair or about his departure from ITV.
But a disgruntled Channel 5 source said viewers may find the lack of transparency ‘even more infuriating’ and allegations of ‘glossing over’ the serious nature of the scandal may trigger more complaints.
The insider added: ‘Anyone tuning in hoping to hear chapter and verse about Phillip’s affair, and the fall out behind the scenes at ITV, is likely to be disappointed.’