Phillip Schofield opens up about ‘TV comeback dinner’ with Declan Donnelly

Reports of the meet-up were swirling earlier this year

On Wednesday night, the third and final episode episode of Phillip Schofield: Cast Away was broadcast on Channel 5.

The show is a three-part series which 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.

The series has been Schofield’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.

Ever since his departure from ITV, there have been reports about how Schofield might make his television return. This included one report back in May which claimed the 62-year-old had met up with Declan Donnelly for dinner to discuss a TV comeback.

In the last episode of Cast Away, Schofield addressed these rumours, saying it was simply a catch-up with a close friend and nothing more.

He said: "Dec Donnelly and I went to the restaurant and I got Alfie [his dog] with me and the pap followed me to the restaurant. They said it was a four hour dinner discussing my TV comeback. We were in there for an hour and a half max. They've got the kids at home to get back to and get to bed.

"I've got Alfie under the table, so it was an hour and a half max in there, but it was a four hour planning my TV comeback. All utter b****s. It’s beginning to sink in that I’m going back to all of that."

Schofield has sparked controversy with his appearance in the Channel 5 series, which hasn't been particularly well-received by critics and has sparked anger amongst some viewers.

The first episode was labelled the “most boring hour of television,” by some, whilst Schofield was slammed for a "sickening" claim he made in the second episode.

All three episodes of Phillip Schofield: Cast Away are available to watch on demand on My5.