Phillip Schofield has blamed homophobia for the scandal that ended his career, saying he would have received a pat on the back for having an affair with a woman. Schofield was forced to quit his job on ITV’s This Morning when it emerged he had lied about a relationship with a runner who was more than 30 years his junior.

On the second episode of Channel 5’s Phillip Schofield: Cast Away, where the 62-year-old spends 10 days alone on a small island off the coast of Madagascar in his first return to a TV series since leaving ITV, he addressed the claims again, saying at first it was “utter bollocks”, before saying that “there wasn’t (toxicity) when I was there”.

The 62-year-old former This Morning presenter will be seen on screen in Channel 5’s Phillip Schofield: Cast Away, his first appearance on a TV series since he left ITV in May 2023 after he admitted to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague.

Phillip Schofield has said his sexual orientation made the repercussions of hisThis Morning affair scandal worse. The former presenter, 62, left ITV last May after he admitted he had lied about having a “consensual on-off relationship” with a younger man,