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 September 29 by thaibeachlovers

[JonnyF]

4 hours ago, Social Media said:

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."

 

Yes, with your proclivity for grooming, deceit and abuse of power it must have been like Aladdin's cave to arrive at the BBC. 

 

As for his whataboutism and veiled threats, save it Phil, we are all know what they are up to. 

[RuamRudy]

17 hours ago, JonnyF said:

 

Yes, with your proclivity for grooming, deceit and abuse of power it must have been like Aladdin's cave to arrive at the BBC. 

 

As for his whataboutism and veiled threats, save it Phil, we are all know what they are up to. 

 

I admit to having paid next to no interest in the issue when it first came to light, but it seems from this piece that the person in question was 19 when they met and 20 when they began a relationship. How is that grooming? The other guy was a fully emancipated adult from the outset. 

[soi3eddie]

deleted

 

 

Edited September 30 by soi3eddie

[Nick Carter icp]

1 hour ago, RuamRudy said:

 

I admit to having paid next to no interest in the issue when it first came to light, but it seems from this piece that the person in question was 19 when they met and 20 when they began a relationship. How is that grooming? The other guy was a fully emancipated adult from the outset. 

 

  The boy was 15 years old when they first met at the BBC and Phil was 50 

[RuamRudy]

2 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

  The boy was 15 years old when they first met at the BBC and Phil was 50 

 

As per the article, they never became intimate until the guy was 20. Was he still coerced at that age? 

[JonnyF]

6 hours ago, RuamRudy said:

 

I admit to having paid next to no interest in the issue when it first came to light, but it seems from this piece that the person in question was 19 when they met and 20 when they began a relationship. How is that grooming? The other guy was a fully emancipated adult from the outset. 

 

You should probably pay more interest before providing misinformation, they were 15 when they met. He started the affair later, after using his star power to get him a job in the industry. 

 

Classic case of grooming.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/phillip-schofield-sun-interview-affair-grooming-b2350119.html

 

[JonnyF]

2 hours ago, RuamRudy said:

 

As per the article, they never became intimate until the guy was 20. Was he still coerced at that age? 

First he groomed.

 

Then he abused his power as a star at ITV to have him (as a young junior employee) become his lover, while still married.

 

All the time while acting like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. Revolting man. 

[RuamRudy]

5 hours ago, JonnyF said:

 

You should probably pay more interest before providing misinformation, they were 15 when they met. He started the affair later, after using his star power to get him a job in the industry. 

 

Classic case of grooming.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/phillip-schofield-sun-interview-affair-grooming-b2350119.html

 

 

Where did it say in the OP that the other party was 15 when they met? I will help you - it doesn't. So your statement that I am 'providing misinformation' is incorrect. 

 

Even the article you cite is vague. "Schofield had reportedly first met the man when he was 15". So it's not clear when they first met. 

 

I have no particular interest in Philip Schofield and I certainly don't have the same obsession with the sexual proclivities of male BBC stars that you have, but from this article it seens that he is just a nasty, selfish man rather than anything more sinister. The lack of interest shown by the police would seem to confirm this. 

[JonnyF]

5 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

 

Where did it say in the OP that the other party was 15 when they met? I will help you - it doesn't. So your statement that I am 'providing misinformation' is incorrect. 

 

You stated he was 19. That is not true. 

 

 

5 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

 

Even the article you cite is vague. "Schofield had reportedly first met the man when he was 15". So it's not clear when they first met. 

 

He was 15. Then he helped him into televison at ITV where he wsa a senior figure. Then started having an affair with him later. There's a word for that - grooming. 

 

https://www.itv.com/news/2023-05-28/schofield-first-met-colleague-he-later-had-affair-with-at-age-15

 

 

5 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

 

I have no particular interest in Philip Schofield and I certainly don't have the same obsession with the sexual proclivities of male BBC stars that you have, but from this article it seens that he is just a nasty, selfish man rather than anything more sinister. The lack of interest shown by the police would seem to confirm this. 

 

You certainly seem interested in defending him, for some reason.

[RuamRudy]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

You stated he was 19. That is not true. 

 

It's possibly correct that he was not 19 but the OP does not make that claim. With only the OP to go on, I could not possibly have assumed otherwise, and your charge of me 'providing misinformation' as if it was deliberate is unfounded. If anything, I simply don't share your obsession with other mens' sex lives. 

 

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

He was 15.

 

If it was beyond doubt that he was 15, the article you cited would have stated that unambiguously. However they are not confident enough to make that claim so have used a well known journalistic technique of making an unsubstantiated allegation without opening themselves up to the possibility of libel action. 

 

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

You certainly seem interested in defending him, for some reason.

 

Not at all. He seems like a particularly unpleasant, narcissistic character, but that isn't a crime, and the police would, I assume, agree as he has faced no charges.

 

But regardless of my feelings towards his behaviour, I still think he deserves the truth to be told without innuendo at every turn. 

[JonnyF]

3 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

 

It's possibly correct that he was not 19 but the OP does not make that claim. With only the OP to go on, I could not possibly have assumed otherwise, and your charge of me 'providing misinformation' as if it was deliberate is unfounded.

 

Should have got your facts straight before saying the report was untrue and "it seems" he was 19 when they met.

 

 

3 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

 

 

 

If anything, I simply don't share your obsession with other mens' sex lives. 

 

Yet here you are.

 

3 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

 

 

If it was beyond doubt that he was 15, the article you cited would have stated that unambiguously. However they are not confident enough to make that claim so have used a well known journalistic technique of making an unsubstantiated allegation without opening themselves up to the possibility of libel action. 

 

His own lawyers confirmed it, confirmed in the ITV report (his employer). Can't get much clearer than this.

 

https://www.itv.com/news/2023-05-28/schofield-first-met-colleague-he-later-had-affair-with-at-age-15

 

 

3 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

But regardless of my feelings towards his behaviour, I still think he deserves the truth to be told without innuendo at every turn. 

 

It's not innuendo. They met when he was 15, then he got him a job at ITV where he was a senior figure and then started the affair behind his wife's back once he was "legal". That's known as grooming. And adultery. With someone he groomed from the age of 15, 4 decades his junior. Nice guy. No wonder he loved the BBC. 😃

[Chomper Higgot]

Another toad that’s climbed out of his toad hole to regain us with his ‘poor me’ revisionism.

 

 

[Chris Daley]

He didn't do anything wrong.  Being silly isn't a crime.

[JonnyF]

11 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

He didn't do anything wrong.  Being silly isn't a crime.

 

But grooming is.