‘There are three sh**s!’
Phillip Schofield as described three former ITV colleagues as “sh***” in an explosive rant during his new show.
The former This Morning presenter will be making his TV return on Monday when the first episode of new Channel 5 show Cast Away airs.
The three-part series follows Schofield as he’s stranded on the coast of Madagascar for 10 days with no crew and only some cameras to document his experience.
It will be the 62-year-old’s first TV appearance since he quit This Morning after admitting to lying about an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a colleague during his time as a presenter on the ITV daytime show.
This came after months of reported tension between him and co-host Holly Willoughby, and previous controversy after their apparent queue-jumping to see Queen Elizabeth’s coffin.
It seems Schofield still harbours plenty of anger and resentment to some of his former colleagues as well, as he launched into a scathing rant during one part of Cast Away, the Mirror reports.
Sat by the fire after a few days on the island, Schofield recalls how he started at the BBC as a booking clerk at 19, and that this was the first time he was able to go to Television Centre. It was here that This Morning was later filmed, and he said he “loved” being at the building.
He said: “When what happened to me happened to me, it screwed up my favourite building in the world, and it pretty well blew away all those happy memories, and suddenly the place became hostile to me, and that was heartbreaking.
“And the people who did it to me, know, they know how important that building was to me. They know that 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. It’s not a good enough reason to throw someone under a bus.”
After a pause to put more wood on the fire, he continued: “I was just thinking there as I was collecting wood – there are only three sh**s.
“One of them is a coward who never stepped up in queue gate. One of them is a coward because they never stepped up when I was being battered by one journalist… and the other one is just brand orientated.
“Not what you expect, not what you think you’re going to get. When it all came to a sudden and very abrupt end, questions were asked about our toxic environment in parliament!”
Whilst he acknowledged that there were some “tricky people,” he said the rumours of toxicity were exaggerated.
An external review following Schofield’s This Morning departure found there was no evidence of a toxic culture on the programme.
Schofield added: “When you’ve given so much to somewhere and been so loyal, to have absolutely no loyalty shown to you. I know what I did was unwise, not sensible. But is it enough to absolutely destroy someone? Literally destroy them.”
A number of This Morning presenters seem to have voiced their support for Schofield’s TV return following the news he would be appearing in Cast Away.
The show, which was filmed earlier this year, will follow Schofield’s time on the island as he fends for himself.
According to Channel 5, Cast Away aims to offer an intimate exploration of the human spirit and the limits of endurance.
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away will air on Channel 5 on Monday September 30 at 9pm.
