Phillip Schofield has announced his TV return 16 months after his departure from ITV’s This Morning following an affair with a younger member of staff.
The former TV star is appearing in Cast Away, which will see him marooned “on an inhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar for 10 days”.
On Wednesday, the 62-year-old, who had teased an announcement on Tuesday night, confirmed his return to the limelight as he shared two stills from the upcoming Channel 5 show.
He wrote on Instagram: “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.”
Left entirely alone, with just a few cameras to document his experience, he faces the challenges of complete isolation and the unpredictable forces of nature. The solitude also forces Schofield to confront his own inner struggles, offering a chance to reflect on and explore his controversial past.
In a statement to promote the show, he said: “This is most definitely a first for me and the only thing I felt compelled to do. It appealed to me on so many levels.
“I’ve recently had a lot of time to think about my life, what went right and what went wrong, but I’ve always had the safe arms of friends and family wrapped around me.”
But how did his fall from grace come about, and what has he been doing for the other months during his downtime? Here is what we know.
When did Phillip Schofield leave ITV?
In 2023, Schofield admitted to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a much younger male colleague and resigned from ITV.
He was the face of ITV’s leading programmes – including This Morning and Dancing On Ice – before he left.
In February 2020, he came 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.
But in April 2023 there was the first hint something might be wrong between the TV pals. Schofield and Willoughby were both due on the This Morning sofa after he took leave while his brother Timothy was on trial for child sex offences but, while Schofield was back in the studio, Willoughby was absent, saying she had shingles.
On May 18, Schofield presented his last episode of This Morning, stepping down two days later with immediate effect.
Things then blew up on May 26 when Schofield admitted to the long-rumoured affair with a former This Morning runner. He was then dropped by his talent agency, YMU.
What has he been up to since?
The presenter has since 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.
After his ITV exit, Schofield laid low for around a year but, in May 2024, he returned to social media by posting a picture of his dog Alfie watching Formula 1. Since the message, he has regularly updated followers about his life, including playing tennis and walking in a sunflower field.
In July 2024, he made his first public outing with his family – attending the Grand Prix with his wife and adult children, Holly and Ruby.
His Cast Away appearance was filmed in top secret at some point over the summer.
When will his TV comeback air on Channel 5?
Over the weekend, Channel 5 posted a short clip of a mystery star, now known to be Schofield, walking across a remote beach, as it teased its “brand new” desert island programme on social media.
The three-part series will air over consecutive nights from Sunday, September 29, to Tuesday, October 1, at 9pm.
