Alert – Phillip Schofield’s daughter reveals her father is still ‘best friends’ with his wife Stephanie after admitting that his decision to come as gay was ‘very hard for the family’

Phillip Schofield’s daughter Molly has revealed that he and his wife Stephanie are ‘still best friends,’ after the presenter came out in 2020.

The This Morning star, 62, was praised when he publicly came out as gay four years ago, and at the time he was supported by wife Stephanie and their two daughters.

However, wife Stephanie’s world came crashing down when, in May 2023, it finally became public knowledge that Phillip had conducted a years-long affair with a much-younger male ITV colleague.

In his new Channel 5 series Cast Away, Phillip’s family discuss the affect the scandal has had on the family for the first time.

Phil and Stephanie have never legally divorced with sources close to the couple saying previously that she ‘still loves him’ deeply and will always remain in his ‘support system’ with their daughters Molly and Ruby. 

Phillip Schofield ‘s daughter Molly has revealed that he and his wife Stephanie are ‘still best friends,’ after the presenter came out in 2020

The This Morning star, 62, was praised when he publicly came out as gay four years ago, and at the time he was supported by wife Stephanie and their two daughters

Molly, who works as her father’s publicist, said that despite the struggles that have beset the family, Phillip and Stephanie still have a close bond.

She said: ‘We’ve seen him in his lowest times, but I’ve been so proud of him, and as a daughter to see the love that people had for him that when it’s taken away it’s just heartbreaking.’ 

‘Weirdly everything that’s happened recently has made us closer.’

‘When my dad came out, it was, it was very hard for me,’ Molly continued.

‘It was very hard for the entire family. Mainly my mum, of course, everything was turned upside down. But we talked through it and over time it’s got easier.

‘My mum, my sister, we’re all the same we will always continued to support him no matter what.

‘And I never thought it would have gone the way it has but to have my parents still best friends, it’s just, I’m the luckiest person ever.’

Phillip stunned the nation when he revealed he would be making his TV comeback in the Channel 5 series Cast Away, which sees him fend for himself for 10 days on a remote island paradise.

Phillip has been married to Stephanie Lowe since 1993 and the pair share Molly and Ruby, 28 (both pictured in January 2020)

Molly, who works as her father’s publicist, said that despite the struggles that have beset the family, Phillip and Stephanie still have a close bond

Speaking on Cast Away, Molly also opened up about how hard the past few years had been on her family

In the first episode, Phillip told how he had ‘everything in place’ for a suicide attempt, but decided against it when his eldest daughter Molly persuaded him not to, in the wake of his exit from This Morning. 

He said: ‘In the last eighteen months, it got as dark as it is possible to get.

‘A year ago I got so, so close. I had everything in place, everything was set up and everything was ready and it was Molly that was looking after me.’

He explained: ‘Molly and Ruby both looking after me at the time, and Molly said: ‘Do you imagine what this would do to us if you actually managed to pull this off? Can you imagine what would happen and can you imagine what it would do to me if you did this on my watch?’

‘That was just enough, just enough to take a step back from the edge. I could have been hospitalised, I just raced to the family home and shut the gates and I was in there.’

He later paid tribute to his wife Stephanie Lowe, Molly, 31, and his youngest daughter Ruby, 28, saying: ‘Without them, I wouldn’t be here.’

Schofield’s return to television comes 16 months after he was forced to apologise to the Mail for lying about his affair with his former This Morning colleague. 

He also lied to ITV and his former co-host Holly Willoughby about the romance and he hasn’t worked since.

But during the programme, he addresses the relationship, saying: ‘It’s like the biggest grenade going off in your life. You know you let people down, you know you’ve let yourself down. 

‘It was an unwise and unprofessional thing to do. I will be forever sorry. I screwed up. I made a mistake, and I hurt the people around me.’

Schofield’s admission that he had enjoyed the romance came three years after he came out as gay live on This Morning, with Ms Willoughby at this side.

It was a secret he had kept from his entire family and his colleagues but he says he is proud of revealing the truth about his sexuality, saying: ‘I’m very proud of what I did, and I know that coming out for so many people is liberating. And it’s freedom on a plate.

‘Absolutely. Be yourself. Live your life to the absolute full. That’s the saying just live your best life. But for me, doing it later in life, at the moment it’s just given me more, um, anguish than joy, because I’m fully aware of the damage that it leaves.’

Schofield notably doesn’t mention Holly or his former lover, who he signed a mutual non-disclosure agreement with earlier this year in return for a six-figure payment to him.

He will leave viewers wondering whether he is referring to Holly when he said: ‘When you throw someone under a bus, you’ve got to have a really bloody good reason to do it.’

In another outburst, Schofield said: ‘: ‘I miss most of it. But there are bits that I really, really, really don’t miss. You learn a lot about people. I don’t miss that.’

Since his exit from television, Schofield says he ‘spent days in bed’ where he would watch the news ‘in a daze.’

As for what he thinks of his return to the limelight, Schofield admits he expects little sympathy. ‘I am not doing this as a poor me,’ he says. ‘I don’t think I have a right. I don’t have a right to a poor me.’