Phillip Schofield’s daughter Molly emotionally declares she’s ‘proud to call him her father’ in the final episode of his Cast Away series.
The former This Morning star, 62, stunned the nation when he revealed he would be making his TV comeback in the Channel 5 series, which sees him fend for himself for 10 days on a remote island paradise.
In the programme, Phillip’s daughters and his wife Stephanie Lowe discuss the impact of his affair admission, and subsequent ITV exit, for the first time.
In the third and final episode of the Cast Away series, which will air on Wednesday, Molly, 31, admits she ‘never thought’ Phillip would recover from his struggles with suicidal thoughts in the wake of the scandal.
In the episode’s final moments, Phillip returns from his time marooned on a desert island rejuvinated after a challenging 18 months.
Phillip Schofield ‘s daughter Molly emotionally declares she’s ‘proud to call him her father’ in the final episode of his Cast Away series (pictured with the presenter in 2022)
The former This Morning star stunned the nation when he revealed he would be making his TV comeback in the Channel 5 series
His daughter Molly then says: ‘Seeing him recover, we never thought that would happen. We never thought that would happen. So now he is where he is. It is the best thing ever, seeing how far he’s come.
‘I am so incredibly proud to say he’s my dad, and I always will be, no matter what.’
Earlier in the series, Phillip spoke about how ‘dark’ his life became, and said his daughters helped him ‘take a step back from the edge’.
He said: ‘In the last 18 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, Molly and Ruby (daughters) 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?
‘And that was enough just to take a step back from the edge. And I could have been hospitalised, I had the option to be hospitalised but I just thought that is going to get out so I raced to the family home.’
In 2020, Phillip shocked the country when he came out as gay, however, he and Stephanie stayed married – albeit separating later that year.
In the programme, Phillip’s daughters and his wife Stephanie Lowe discuss the impact of his affair admission, and subsequent ITV exit, for the first time
Speaking in the first episode of Cast Away, set to air on Monday, Molly opened up about how hard the past few years had been on her family.
She said: ‘What people don’t realise is that they batter you but then there are other people affected.’
Molly, who works as her father’s publicist, added: ‘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.’
Phillip secretly filmed Channel 5 special Cast Away, which required him to give up his home comforts for 10 days of soul-searching on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean
During the show, he will discuss his bitter parting of ways with ITV and This Morning, which he hosted for 21 years, while fending for himself on the island paradise, located off the coast of Madagascar.
His 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.
Earlier in the series, Phillip spoke about how ‘dark’ his life became, and said his daughters helped him ‘take a step back from the edge’
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 has not worked since he left This Morning in May 2023 shortly before the affair was revealed. His co-host and once close friend, Holly Willoughby, later left herself, with Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard taking over their roles.
Phillip quit ITV entirely after admitting he had lied to the Daily Mail about his the affair.
Friends of the star were ‘quite certain’ he would never work again following his admission, but Channel 5 changed this.
One said at the time: ‘Phillip has been very, very down recently. He doesn’t know how he is going to work again. It’s devastating for him to realise but he also knows that there is not a lot he can do about it. He doesn’t know who will take him. He knows there is no way back to ITV or the BBC.’
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Inside Phillip Schofield's 16-month break from TV as he announces return for C5's Cast Away
Sources close to Schofield say that his friends are trying to encourage him to think he can have a ‘fulfilling life’ away from showbusiness.
One said: ‘Just because he may not be on telly again doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy his life. Phil isn’t so sure though.’
Before the Channel 5 gig, Phillip was tipped for a job on national radio – his ‘first love’ – with Britain’s largest commercial stations said to be jostling to bring him in to woo new listeners from rivals, including BBC Radio 2.
An ITV report in December 2023 cleared bosses of a cover-up of the affair and did not mention any further damaging claims about Schofield’s relationship with a young runner on the show.
Despite claims of a ‘whitewash’, industry insiders told that it opens the door to the star getting a new big-money deal to return to work in 2024.
But a senior British broadcasting source said a return to TV for Mr Schofield is ‘unlikely – for now’.
Schofield is said to have turned down a selection of big money TV offers before choosing to sign up for Cast Away – which he believes will allow him to share his story in an ‘unedited and honest’ way.
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away airs on Monday 30th September, Tuesday October 1 and Wednesday October 2 at 9pm on Channel 5.