Phillip Schofield Speaks Out: "I Could Drive the Same Bus Over So Many People"

[Social Media]

 

Phillip Schofield, the former ITV presenter, has spoken candidly about his feelings of betrayal after details of his affair with a younger colleague surfaced, claiming that those around him had "thrown him under the bus." Schofield, 62, who left ITV last year after admitting to lying about a consensual relationship with a younger man who worked as a runner on *This Morning*, expressed his frustration and disbelief at how he was treated by the network and those he once trusted.

 

 

"I could drive the same bus over so many people," Schofield said, alluding to the betrayals he experienced from people close to him. According to him, other TV personalities had engaged in similar conduct, but it was he who was singled out. 

In a recent interview during his comeback series *Cast Away*, Schofield shared his reflections on his career, his love for working at the famed Television Centre in London, and how the scandal affected him personally. "It was my greatest dream to walk into Television Centre," he reminisced. "At the age of 19, I became a bookings clerk at the BBC and I got a pass that got me into all of the BBC buildings. It was so magical to walk through those gates."

 

 

Schofield went on to describe how his career at the iconic studio was a cherished experience, until the scandal turned everything upside down. "I loved being there. Which meant that when what happened to me happened to me, it screwed up my favourite building in the world. It pretty well blew away all those happy memories. Suddenly the place became hostile to me. And that was heartbreaking."

 

His departure from ITV in May came after he publicly apologized for deceiving the media, his colleagues, and his friends about the nature of his relationship with the young man. Schofield clarified that while he had helped the teenager secure work experience with the channel when he was 19, there had been no sexual contact between them until the man was around 20 years old.

 

Reflecting on the fallout from the scandal, Schofield revealed his feelings of betrayal by those who turned their backs on him during his lowest moments. "The people who did it to me 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." His pain was evident as he spoke about the difficulty of accepting that those he trusted had "completely different agendas."

 

"It has been hard to come to terms with the fact that the people you thought you knew were not the people that you thought you knew," Schofield admitted. "Man alive, people can be fake. They can be so fake when it’s all going well, and then sudden utter betrayal." He added, "How many friends do you need? I don’t need 200 fake friends."

 

Schofield’s remarks come in the wake of speculation that he might join the cast of *I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here* for its upcoming season, though he seemed to dismiss the idea during an interview from his home in London before heading off to the *Cast Away* island. "I’m apparently four to one [odds] to do the other jungle programme," he said, referring to the ITV show hosted by his friends Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly. "Now, although my best mates host it, there are some channels you just won’t work for. There are just some people you won’t work for."

 

*Cast Away*, which features Schofield trying to survive on an island in the Indian Ocean for ten days, airs over three nights starting September 30.

 

 

Based on a report from: The Independent 2024-09-30

 

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, Social Media said:

*Cast Away*, which features Schofield trying to survive on an island in the Indian Ocean for ten days,

That's not a challenge for any normal person. As long as one can drink enough, the worst that can happen is that he gets a bit hungry. Hardly qualifies as "survival".

 

Before the usual posters start, yes I have done a survival course in the jungle training area of southern Malaya, and yes I did get quite hungry.

Edited 7 minutes ago by thaibeachlovers