It’s time Phillip Schofield was forgiven and offered a second chance-Adam Miller-Entertainment – Metro

If Schofield is feeling well enough to talk, it’s about time we listened (Picture: Lia Toby/Getty Images)

‘Telly was my safe space, the one thing I loved. Now I don’t know if I will ever work on telly again.’

Phillip Schofield gave an interview after he left This Morning, days after his ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair broke the trust of his fans, ITV and his co-host Holly Willoughby.

Now, one year after his uncomfortable departure from the public eye, the man who was on screens every single day, has become a ghost of TV’s past.

But on Wednesday May 15, Schofe returned to social media for the very first time since he revealed the sexual relationship with a 20-year-old colleague at This Morning.

On the surface, it was a post about nothing, taken from what appears to be a bed with his dog Alfie watching Formula One. He captioned the post: ‘Thankfully Alfie is a big fan of F1.’

It has all the banality of a social media-inept dad, not a previous ‘national treasure’. But there’s a lot more to that post than a dog watching fast cars; it’s proof that the man who feared he’d never work again has found the courage to use his voice for the first time in a very long time.

It’s the first time in 12 months he’s been brave enough to indicate that, despite a year of hell, he’s starting to be OK. If Schofield is feeling well enough to talk, it’s about time we listened. 

It might not look like it, but actually there is a hope this is a far cry from the dishevelled, ‘disgraced’ TV star who said in a message to critics: ‘Do you want me to die? Because that’s where I am.’

Amol Rajan said about that interview at the time: ‘Schofield, whom I had never met, mentioned suicide within moments of our acquaintance, and repeatedly during the interview.’

Since then, several ITV stars have gradually come out to defend Schofield.

This Morning’s Dermot O’Leary and Josie Gibson liked his latest social media post, while Piers Morgan blasted the ‘relentless persecution’, and Lorraine Kelly said she was ‘heartbroken’ to see his career blow up in such an extraordinary fashion. He’s also been spotted dining out with Vanessa Feltz and Declan Donnelly, reportedly discussing his possible comeback with the latter.

His former co-host and ‘best friend’ Holly Willoughby – who held his hand while he came out as gay on television – has kept quiet aside from making a dig at Schofield when she made her return to This Morning, comically asking viewers, ‘Are you OK?’

A year on, yes Holly, we are OK. Life has resumed.

Schofield isn’t public enemy number one, and – now we can look back at the furore with a bit more rationality – it feels like the right time to give him a chance to make his peace with the public.

I’ll admit I was overly invested in the ‘Schofield scandal’. I’m not proud of it but I was drawn into the hysteria, the subsequent chaos of This Morning and how the programme could feasibly move forward when Phil and Holly’s friendship was the show’s beating heart and it had so publicly flatlined.

But as backlash towards Schofield intensified, I couldn’t help feeling there was a level of miseducation behind the impassioned rage from his biggest critics.

Straight men striking up relationships with much younger female colleagues isn’t exactly uncommon. Sure, it’s not celebrated but they’re not met with quite the same uproar experienced by Schofield. They’re largely allowed to continue with their jobs and colleagues can gossip about them over the water cooler, if they even care. 

He said it himself during his BBC interview with Amol Rajan: ‘If it was a heterosexual relationship, then it would’ve been a bit of “nudge nudge wink wink”. But if it’s a gay relationship, then suddenly it raises eyebrows. It’s wrong. People do find each other attractive in different age groups… it’s predominantly homophobia.’

Age gaps are also much more common among gay men. 

I know gay couples with significant age gaps and they’re wonderful; the number of years between them is the least interesting thing about them. 

Schofield’s affair was indefensible. He shattered the vows of his marriage, lied to his closest friends and the young colleague will no doubt – at the very least – be deeply traumatised by being at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in UK television.

But it’s easy to forget that behind Schofield’s signature smile was a man who lived in the closet for 57 years, spent every day pretending to be something he’s not in front of millions, with unthinkable pressure to live up to the image of the family man his adoring fans believed him to be.

I spent the first 18 years of my life hiding who I was and that was enough to leave me with pain and regret I don’t know if I will ever overcome. I can’t even begin to imagine experiencing the level of shame Schofield did – and for 39 years longer.

That doesn’t justify his affair, but it could help explain why he went there, given the absence of love from another man in his life, mourning the lost opportunity of being a loud and proud young gay man.

It’s easy to forget that behind Schofield’s signature smile was a man who lived in the closet for 57 years (Picture: Hollie Adams/Getty Images)

It’s not as simple as another case of man sleeping with a younger colleague, taking advantage of his position of power. If anything, Schofield’s been trapped in a false identity and if there was one part of his life where might have felt powerless, it’s his sexuality.

I don’t condone his behaviour, but I can sympathise with how his years of pain lead him there.

Like he said, television was his ‘safe space’. It makes sense that’s where he would finally feel comfortable enough to be with another man, even if it was extremely ‘unwise’ to sleep with a colleague, particularly with such a big age gap.

It’s understandable why 12 months ago Schofield felt it was vital he had his say; that the public should see his hands tremble while he clung onto a vape during his The Sun interview and pleaded his case.

The timing, however, was wrong. It was far too soon; his fans were too shaken and there was still further fallout bound to follow, which he would be powerless to stop.

Holly would return to This Morning one day; she would address the breakdown of their friendship and he’d have been foolish to keep speaking out every time a new angle on this story arose.

But now the dust has settled, it feels as though it’s time to give Schofield the space to tell his story calmly, without the pitchforks sharpened and the same thirst to watch his downfall.

Whether he’ll be able to make a proper TV return seems unlikely, at least with the same success he enjoyed as one of ITV’s highest-paid and most adored presenters. 

With the level of scrutiny he’s faced over the last year, which will always hang over him, perhaps he doesn’t even want to be on television again. 

But should his legacy be the disgraced king of daytime TV? No, it’s not that black and white – far from it.

I think history might look back at Schofield with a kinder approach. I think it will remember a man who, like so many other gay men, has been tortured living a lie for most of his life and subsequently made colossal mistakes I’m sure he wishes he could take back. 

If his wife Stephanie Lowe can forgive, a year on it feels as though we should all be ready to move on too.

If Schofield is finally ready to return to public life, as his latest social media post would suggest, it’s time for his critics to stop, forgive him too and let a man who has suffered enough be happy in whatever path he chooses to follow next.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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