Phillip Schofield returns to TV on Monday night in Channel 5's new programme, Phillip Schofield Cast Away, which sees the 62-year-old spend ten days alone on a small island off the coast of Madagascar.
It's the first time Phillip has been on our screens since his departure from This Morning last year. The broadcaster left ITV in May 2023 in light of his "unwise, but not illegal" relationship with a younger male colleague.
Viewers rushed to social media to give their verdict on the programme.
While some criticised the programme, with some questioning what Phillip was "trying to achieve", other viewers were glad to see the broadcaster back on their screens, with one person writing: "I stand with Phillip Schofield. He made a mistake but we all do. I hope he can make a comeback," while another added: "Really missed @Schofe. I hope this isn't the last we see of you. No, you didn't deserve to have your career/life destroyed."
Meanwhile, one viewer was unsure of how to feel about the show, penning on X: "So weird seeing someone who used to be on daytime TV every day back on air in this context, honestly don't know how I feel about it."
But what exactly did Phillip say while filming the Channel 5 show? Find out below…
Phillip says This Morning exit was 'the biggest grenade' in his life
Addressed his departure from This Morning last year, Phillip said: "When it came to a sudden very abrupt end, you know one minute you're there and then the next minute you’re gone, you know what it feels like to be cancelled.
© Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock"It's like the biggest grenade going off in your life, and you know you let people down, you've let yourself down, and it was unwise and (an) unprofessional thing to do, I will be forever sorry, I screwed up, I made a mistake, and I hurt the people around me," he added.
Phillip takes aim at three "s**** in showbiz'
Phillip took aim at his "fake" former colleagues while speaking about his departure from ITV.
Speaking about his 40-year TV career, he said: "They know how important that was to me.
© Channel 5"They know when you throw someone under a bus, you've got to have a really bloody good reason to do it. Brand ambition is not good enough."
He continued: "People can be fake. They can be so fake with you when it’s all going well, and suddenly utter, utter betrayal.
"There are a lot of amazing people on morning television.
"I think there are only three [expletives]. One of them is a coward who never stepped up in queuegate. One is a coward, because they never stepped up when I was being battered. And the other is just brand-orientated."
Phillip suggests Cast Away is his final TV appearance
Phillip suggested that Cast Away might be the last we see of him on our screens. He said he had expected to "die on live television at 93", but now doesn't think he wants to "do it any more".
"This is me having my say as I bow out," he said.
© Channel 5Phillip considered suicide after media storm
Phillip revealed he "got so, so close" to ending his life when he was in the media storm.
"I had everything in place, everything was set up and everything was ready," said the presenter, who was being looked after by his daughters, Ruby and Molly, following his departure from ITV.
© Channel 5"Molly said, 'Do you imagine what this would do to us if you actually managed to pull this off? Imagine what would happen. Can you imagine what it would do to me if you did this on my watch', and that was just enough to take a step back from the edge," explained Phillip.
"I could have been hospitalised. I had the option to be hospitalised, but then I thought, that's going to get out. So I just raced to the family home and shut the gates."
Phillip says coming out later in life gave him 'more anguish'
Phillip, who came out during an episode of This Morning in 2020, reflected on embracing his sexuality later in life. "I know that coming out for so many people is liberating, and it's freedom on a plate, absolutely be yourself, live your life to the absolute full," he said.
"That's the saying, just live your best life. But for me, doing it later in life, at the moment it's just given me more anguish than joy because I'm fully aware of the damage that it leaves. I still have the love of my family, never wavered."
He also said there has been "such a chunk of my older life that I've just been sad, locked myself away, put myself into my own personal lockdowns over and over and over again".
"We're here for such a brief space of time, so tiny," he added. "What's the point in wasting it? What's the point in not being happy regardless?"
The Samaritans can be contacted on 116123 or email jo@samaritans.org.
