Phillip Schofield seemingly referenced a viral This Morning moment in the first episode of Channel 5’s Cast Away
Phillip Schofield has seemingly called out his ex-best friend and former co-presenter Holly Willoughby during the first episode of his new show Cast Away.
The 62-year-old will soon make his return to TV in the Channel 5 series, where he is left to fend for himself on a tropical island for 10 days as he reflects on what has happened over the course of the last 16 months, following his scandal.
It was announced earlier this week that the former This Morning host would be making his comeback, with Channel 5 describing the series as a ‘celebrity marooned on an inhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar for 10 days’.
The first episode will air on Monday (30 September), and it begins with the presenter being asked why he wants to take on the challenge of living on his own on the island, to which he said: “I think there’d be an awful lot of people that hope I never come back.”
He also opened up on how ‘lucky’ he was throughout his four-decade career, saying that his time as the host of This Morning was a ‘privilege’ and added that he knew ‘what it feels like to be cancelled’ following the ‘abrupt end’ to his time on the ITV show.
“It’s like the biggest grenade going off in your life, and you know you let people down, you’ve let yourself down, and it was unwise and [an] unprofessional thing to do, I will be forever sorry, I screwed up, I made a mistake, and I hurt the people around me,” he stated.
However, one other moment from the first episode has stolen the headlines.
Schofield showed that there was no love lost with Willoughby (Channel 5)
Schofield has seemingly mocked his old co-host and former ‘on-screen wife’, as the nation saw it, Holly Willoughby.
In Willoughby’s first episode of This Morning since news broke Schofield was having an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a young colleague, Willoughby opened the show by asking: “Firstly, are you OK?”
During the early stages of Cast Away, while having a barbecue with his wife and two daughters, he says: “If you’re OK then we’re OK and I’m OK.
“Are you OK?”
It’s seemingly a swipe at Willoughby, someone who he was very close to, but has now lost touch with – though this is not the only time that he takes a jab at his former colleagues on his new show.
When eating a fruit, he says: “It’s going through an angry bitter stage… like some television presenters haha.”
During the upcoming series, Schofield also praises his daughters Ruby and Molly, for being the reason that he is still here after having suicidal thoughts, while also revealing that he has a close relationship with his wife Stephanie following the affair, as he wears his wedding ring on the island.
The presenter praises his family for sticking by him in the first episode (Channel 5)
Before going on the tropical island, just off the coast of Madagascar, Molly highlighted that the events last year brought the family ‘closer’ and that she is ‘proud of him’ after seeing him ‘at his lowest times’.
“I never thought it would have gone the way it has but to have my parents still best friends… I’m the luckiest person ever,” she added.
Schofield also paid tribute to his family, stating: “Some families can adapt, some families can’t. Without them I wouldn’t be here. I still have the love of my family. Never wavered.”
The presenter’s wife also weighed in, explaining: “What people don’t realise is that they batter you but then there are other people affected.
“There’s no question by doing this you’re popping your head back up above the parapet for the very few horrid people that there are out there.”
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away will air its first episode 9pm on Monday, September 30.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
Featured Image Credit: Channel 5 / ITV
