Phillip Schofield is living like a recluse as he fears he will be spat on in the street if he leaves his house.
Phillip Schofield is living like a recluse as he fears he will be spat on in the street if he leaves his house
The scandal-hit former ITV presenter, 61, who announced he was leaving the broadcaster last weekend after details about his relationship with a much younger male colleague who worked with him on ‘This Morning’ emerged, made the admission in a long interview with The Sun, the first part of which was published on Thursday. (01.06.23)
He said about his fears of going outside in the wake of news of his affair emerging: “I do not know a time I will be able to walk out of the door.
“I don’t have any spirit. My friends tell me, ‘It will get better’. It won’t. Not now. Not this one.
“You watch all these layers of you slide away and slide away and slide away. The things that were dear to you.
“But I deserve it. It’s my fault. I deserve it.”
Phillip said he had never previously suffered abuse on the street, but asked about the prospect of being hit with it if he goes outside: “Are they spitting on me because I had an affair at work and lied about it?”
He added he was being supported by his daughters Molly, 30, and Ruby, 27, who he had with his wife of 30 years Stephanie Lowe years before he publicly came out as gay on ‘This Morning’ in February 2020.
Phillip added: “I am getting by hour by hour. I have got my girls and my friends.”
He said he had deleted all apps from his phone and silenced notifications as social media has been filled with rumours about his affair.
Phillip added about social platforms: “Why would I ever, ever go back there?”
After announcing he was leaving all his ITV roles, he has also been dropped from brand deals and seen his wine range and collection of Boots products pulled from shelves.
Phillip also gave an interview with the BBC on Thursday (01.06.23) in which he insisted he had not groomed his lover, who he first got in contact with when he was aged 15.
He told the BBC’s Amol Rajan when asked about how he first followed his future partner on Twitter when he was a teen: “It was a completely innocent backwards and forwards about a job – what is wrong with that?”
Talking to The Sun, Phillip insisted about his lover: “I did not, I did not (groom him.)
“There are accusations of all sorts of things. It never came across that way (an abuse of power) because we’d become mates. I don’t know about that.”
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