Phillip Schofield has expressed that he will be “forever sorry” during his first television appearance in over a year since his unexpected downfall.
At 62 years old, Schofield resigned from ITV and acknowledged that he had lied about an affair with a younger male colleague, which he described as “unwise, but not illegal.”
Following this revelation, his agent ended their professional relationship, and Schofield has largely avoided the public eye since that time.
On Monday, he will make his return to primetime television for the first time in 16 months, hosting Channel 5’s latest version of Cast Away.
This three-part series will document Schofield’s attempt to survive on an island off the coast of Madagascar for nearly two weeks, with much of the footage shot by Schofield himself.
During a preview screening of the first episode for the press, Schofield stated that he had been “cancelled” after his departure from ITV and the public backlash that followed regarding the affair.
Reflecting on the aftermath, he described it as “like the biggest grenade going off in your life,” acknowledging that he had let people down, including himself, and referred to his actions as “an unwise and unprofessional thing to do.”
He added, “I will be forever sorry. You know, I screwed up. I made a mistake and I hurt the people around me.”
The show also features his wife, Stephanie Lowe, and their daughters, Molly, 31, and Ruby, 28.
In one scene during a family barbecue, Lowe remarks, “What people don’t realize is that they batter [Phillip] but then there are other people affected.”
Molly shared that the scandal has brought the family closer together and described her father as “just amazing.”
Actress Joanna Lumley appears in a video message offering survival tips for Schofield.
The star of Absolutely Fabulous previously hosted a BBC reality series called Girl Friday in 1994, during which she survived for nine days on the island of Nosy Tsarabanjina, near Madagascar.
In her message, she expresses her support, saying, “I shall be thinking of you all the time Phil, and actually I’m a little bit jealous, lots of love.”
Later in the episode, Schofield reveals that he was “so, so close” to taking his own life, stating, “I had everything in place, everything was set up and everything was ready.”
He recounted a conversation with Molly, who asked him to consider the impact of such an action on their family:
“Do you imagine what this would do to us if you actually managed to pull this off? Can you imagine what would happen and can you imagine what it would do to me if you did this on my watch?” Her words were enough to lead him to step back from the brink.
His return to primetime television has elicited mixed reactions. Mark Borkowski, a crisis PR consultant and author, challenged Schofield’s assertion of being a victim of cancel culture.
In a piece, he argued, “This was a spectacular career collapse sparked by a serious HR violation, an abuse of power and a betrayal of his inner circle, not to mention millions of viewers who saw one man and realized he was another.”
Borkowski claimed the show was “clearly designed to propel Schofield into a redemption arc,” suggesting that he would need to deliver an exceptional performance to achieve this.
Journalist Siobhan Synnot stated on Times Radio that this format provides a secure option for Schofield. She noted, “He’s going to be in control of the narrative, he’s going to be able to talk to the camera.
He’s the man who does the filming; it’s prerecorded. He can ask the questions that he’d love to answer, and he doesn’t have to ask himself the awkward questions.”
Nadia Sawalha, a co-host on Loose Women, shared her discomfort with the teaser for the show released earlier this week.
Discussing it, she described Schofield as “very clever” and noted that he “knows how to speak to an audience.”
She added, “I have always stood up against people in positions of power and money and status. I will always stick up for the young person that was swayed by that.”
