Phillip Schofield says Cast Away will be his last TV appearance

Just over 15 months ago, former TV presenter Phillip Schofield told the BBC His career was over.

He had just left ITV after admitting he had had an affair with a young employee at the company and had lied about it.

Many thought Scofield would retire from television for good, but he has since disappeared from the spotlight.

It wasn’t announced until earlier this week he will attend Cast Away on Channel 5.

The 62-year-old has filmed the series, which sees him stranded on an island near Madagascar for 10 days and forced to fend for himself in search of his own food, water and shelter.

The BBC has an early look at the first two of three episodes.

One of the opening shots of the first episode shows Schofield sitting with his wife, Stephanie Lowe, and his two daughters, Molly and Ruby, at a family barbecue.

“We’ve seen him at his lowest, but I’m so proud of him,” Molly said.

Interviews with his family are interspersed between island scenes and a detailed discussion of his sexuality.

In the first episode of The Island, Schofield talks about “living an absolutely fulfilling life” and still having “the love of his family,” which he says has “never wavered.”

It comes after Schofield came out as gay on Instagram in February 2020 and then discussed his statement on ITV’s This Morning with then co-host Holly Willoughby.

Molly described his coming out as “very difficult for me and very difficult for the whole family – mainly my mum of course”, saying “everything was turned upside down”.

She says things have gotten better at home since he came out – calling herself “the luckiest person ever” because her parents are still best friends.

Schofield, who hosted This Morning from 2009 to 2023, reflected a lot on the island, talking to the camera about his career on stage and TV and how he has since fallen out of favor with the public What’s going on behind the scenes.

He said he went to the island to empty his “drug tank” and asked people to let him continue “the quiet life you gave me.”

The presenter said he had only appeared in public to care for his seriously ill mother since quitting ITV and admitted he had considered suicide when things got “dark”.

“I’m very, very close, I have everything ready, everything is ready.”

He added: “Molly said, ‘Can you imagine what it would do to us if you actually succeeded in doing this? Imagine what would happen. Can you imagine if you did this on my watch? At this point, is it going to have any impact on me? ‘” It’s just enough to take a step back from the edge.

“I could have been hospitalized. I could have been hospitalized, but then I thought, that would have been discharge. So I ran home and closed the door.”

Schofield insisted his romance with a younger male colleague was “ill-advised but not illegal” and said in the second episode he was “making life difficult for the people I love most”.

Overall, he appears to have not fully recovered from his exit from ITV and the media, saying: “I was thrown under the bus.

“I could drive the same bus over so many people, but I’m not that person and I never have been.”

Schofield didn’t name anyone specifically other than his former agency (which we know is YMU), which represented him for more than 30 years.

“I was suicidal and it was like one push and that was it and they sent me what looked like a cut and paste text like ‘this time we have to let you go’,” he added.

He also accused three “cowards” who worked with him on TV – “one who never stood up in the queue”, “one who never stood up when I was being assaulted by a reporter” and “one who never stood up” [who] It’s just brand-oriented.”

References to his “Queue” review The public backlash he faced He and Willoughby skipped the 20-hour queue to visit Queen Elizabeth II’s bedchamber.

By the time Scofield was on his fourth and fifth days sailing around the island, his apparent hunger and lack of shelter seemed to be taking its toll on him.

As he hunts for crabs at night and avoids being bitten by a black widow spider, he tells the camera: “I’d get bashed for one of Phillip Schofield’s crazy rants.”

His appearance has also changed, with his unkempt beard and dirty clothes a far cry from his glamorous appearance on morning television.

“But the thing is, I don’t care anymore, it’s about me having a say in exiting,” he added.

He filmed himself from different angles and said he had “nothing to lose” by appearing in Cast Away because “they took almost everything. Reputation, dignity, legacy, everything.”

“I love what I’ve learned about myself and I love every day that when I get on that ship and get out of here, I’ll know that I did my best and I said my word,” he added.