Phillip Schofield has claimed he was “fired” from ITV’s This Morning – after initial claims reported he “resigned” from the network.
Phil was a staple of the daytime show alongside Holly Willoughby, but after his “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague came to light, he left it for good.
Now appearing on Channel 5’s Cast Away, Phillip was asked if there’s a possibility he might “quit” the survival challenge before the end of the 10 days he’s set to spend stranded on an island off Madagascar. He admitted: “It’s inconceivable that I would quit. I don’t quit. I’m fired, but I don’t quit.”
He added: “I’ll be alone for 10 solitary nights. God help me. That is the wildest feeling. S*** just got real.”
Phil also confessed there are some channels he “won’t work for”, refuting claims he’s set to star on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! He said: “I’m apparently four to one [odds] to do the other jungle programme. Now, although my best mates host it, there are some channels you just won’t work for.
Phillip Schofield admitted ‘I was fired’ (Image: Channel 5)
“There are just some people you won’t work for.”
According to The Guardian, in later episodes of Cast Away, Phil blames his brother Timothy’s conviction for 11 sexual offences for his being fired.
In the final episode, Phil says: “I had to go through everything with the hierarchy at ITV. The full entire story so that they knew I hadn’t done anything wrong. The full story.”
But he said his agent called him before his brother’s sentencing to say: “It’s done. You’re not going back on Monday” due to the “publicity” over the case. He says: “I was always open and honest with everyone at work about what was happening with my brother. I was fired for the bad publicity, for someone else’s crime.”
Phillip adds: “And the thing is about a week later, I blew my own wheels off with everything else [his affair], because I thought the only way to even begin to put this right for everybody is to do a full mea culpa.”
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