The 'Loose Women' panel has praised Phillip Schofield for announcing he is gay.

Phillip Schofield

Phillip Schofield

The ITV daytime show's panel - comprised of Denise Welch, Brenda Edwards, Kaye Adams and Nadia Sawalha on Friday (07.02.20) - were universal in wishing Phillip well following his emotional appearance on his own programme 'This Morning' during which he told his co-host Holly Willoughby and their viewers that it was time to be honest about his homosexuality.

Former 'X Factor' contestant Brenda described his words as "empowering".

She said: "Being in the media industry and so high up as he is, I think it's a very strong and empowering message to a lot of people, whether they're young, old, whatever age they are, that you can just be yourself.

"I think it might help spur on other people who are feeling trapped or they haven't got anywhere to go I think that's a really good, empowering thing that he's done, being the person he is and coming out to everybody."

Kaye, 57, hopes Phillip - who has been married to wife Stephanie Lowe since 1993 with the pair sharing two adult daughters - will "get some space to work out new dynamics" with his family.

And Denise, 61, pointed out how "difficult" the situation will be for his loved ones, while being glad the 57-year-old star is being true to himself.

On Friday morning, Phillip released a statement on his Instagram account revealing to the world that he is a gay man and then sat on the 'This Morning' sofa opposite his friend Holly, 38, to share his journey to be open about his sexuality and how he got there.

He said: "You know, this has been bothering me for a very long time. There's no question that it has in recent times, consumed my head.

"And has become an issue in my head. So I got to the stage where I thought, 'We sit here every day and some amazingly brave person is over here and I'm thinking 'You're so brave, you're so brave.'

"And I'm thinking, 'I have to be that person, I have to be that person. All you can be is honest with yourself. I was getting to the point where I didn't like myself. So when is the right time?"

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