Phillip Schofield: The timeline of his ITV departure and return to TV
In 2023, Schofield admitted to an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a much younger male colleague and resigned from ITV
Phillip Schofield was the face of ITV’s leading programmes – including This Morning and Dancing On Ice – before he resigned in 2023 over his affair with a younger colleague.
The presenter has since then stayed mainly out of the public eye, amid a review into ITV’s handling of the case, before it was confirmed on Wednesday that he would return to the spotlight with a Channel 5 series.
Here is a timeline of how events unfolded:
– February 2020: Schofield comes out as gay after nearly 27 years of marriage to wife Stephanie, in an emotional on-air chat with co-host and long-time friend Holly Willoughby. The pair embrace on the sofa.
– September 2022: The co-hosts face criticism over claims they skipped the queue for the late Queen’s lying in state while attending as members of the media to film a segment for This Morning.
– April 17 2023: The first hint something might be wrong comes in the first show after the Easter break. Schofield and Willoughby should both be on the sofa after he took leave while his brother Timothy was on trial for child sex offences. While Schofield is back in the studio, Willoughby is absent, saying she has shingles.
– May 15: The pair put on a united front on This Morning and make no reference to stories in the press about their relationship.
– May 18: Schofield presents what will turn out to be his last episode of This Morning.
– May 20: Schofield steps down from This Morning with immediate effect. ITV says he will continue to present “peak-time shows”, including The British Soap Awards and a new prime-time series. Willoughby releases a statement saying the sofa “won’t feel the same without him”.
– May 26: Schofield admits to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a much younger male colleague and resigns from ITV. He confirms the relationship began while he was still with his wife and says he will not be hosting the British Soap Awards, his last public commitment. He apologises for lying about the relationship. He is dropped by his talent agency YMU.
– May 27: Willoughby accuses Schofield of lying to her about the affair, saying his admission is “very hurtful”. ITV says the broadcaster was “not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour” when it looked into the matter in 2020.
– May 31: In a letter, seen by the PA news agency, ITV’s chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall says the broadcaster has instructed a barrister to conduct an external review of how it has handled Schofield’s affair. She adds that Jane Mulcahy KC, of Blackstone Chambers, will “carry out an external review to establish the facts”.
– June 1: The Sun publishes an interview with Schofield in which he says he is sorry to Willoughby but owes his “greatest apology” to his former lover. He reiterates that he did not “groom” the man, and that although his wife was “very, very angry” about the affair, his daughters have been “guarding” him during the fallout.
– June 2: The BBC airs its own interview with Schofield, conducted by media editor Amol Rajan. Schofield says he has “lost everything” and the affair has had a “catastrophic effect” on his mind. Speaking about the criticism he has faced, he says he can see “nothing ahead” except “blackness and sadness” and now speaks about his career in television “in the past tense”. Schofield also urges the media to leave the younger man alone.
– June 5: Willoughby makes an emotional return to This Morning, saying she felt “shaken, troubled, let down and worried” following the revelations about Schofield. The episode was watched by an average of 839,000 viewers, the highest daily average for the show since the coronation bank holiday on May 8, and had a peak audience of 1.6 million.
– June 20: Schofield receives support from Sir Elton John in a Radio Times interview published on this date. The musician claimed a heterosexual relationship with a similar age gap would not have attracted such negative coverage, and called it “totally homophobic”.
– October: It is confirmed by ITV that the company’s policy on work relationships has been updated in the wake of furore over Schofield. Staff are reportedly required to disclose any kind of relationship, including a friendship, sexual or romantic connection, to “the company at the earliest opportunity”.
– December 7: Ms Mulcahy finds ITV made “considerable efforts” to find out the truth about an alleged affair between Schofield and a runner in 2019 but was “unable to uncover the relevant evidence” until the presenter’s own admission in late May 2023. The former presenter “reluctantly declined” to take part because of “the risk to his health”.
– February 2024: ITV morning programme host Lorraine Kelly tells the Sunday Times Magazine that Schofield is “doing all right”, and said she thinks “everybody lost their minds a wee bit” during the media furore.
– May 15 2024: Schofield returns to social media by posting that his dog Alfie is watching Formula 1. Since the message, he begins regularly updating followers about his life, including playing tennis and walking in a sunflower field.
– July 2024: He reportedly makes a rare public outing, by attending the Grand Prix with his wife, and children.
– September 25 2024: It is announced that Schofield will return to TV with the Channel 5 special Cast Away, which follows a “celebrity marooned on a tropical island off the coast of Madagascar for 10 days”.
