Phillip Schofield is blasted by viewers who insist he’s ‘not as remorseful as he claims’ after supposed dig at Holly Willoughby’s viral ‘are you OK’ statement

Phillip Schofield’s long-awaited TV comeback finally hit screens on Monday night, with the disgraced presenter promising to tell his side of the story in a ‘raw and honest way’.

But just minutes into the first episode of his Channel 5 series Cast Away, viewers were quick to accuse the presenter of being ‘less remorseful than he claims’ after he took an alleged swipe at his former This Morning co- presenter Holly Willoughby.

During the show, Phillip discusses his bitter split with ITV and This Morning, which he presented for 21 years while fending for himself on a remote island paradise off the coast of Madagascar.

Phillip, 62, was kicked out of This Morning in May last year after admitting lying about his relationship with a much younger male colleague.

Holly distanced herself from her former best friend and during a ‘very strategic’ return to the This Morning sofa in June 2023, she told viewers she was left ‘shocked, let down and worried’.

When she came back, she started by saying, “Hi, first of all, are you okay?” I hope so. It feels very strange to be here without Phil.’

Phillip appears to reference the now famous speech on Cast Away and is seen having a barbecue with his family before heading to the island.

Handing out food to his wife Stephanie and their daughters Molly, 31, and Ruby, 28, he laughs: “If you’re okay, then we’re okay, and I’m okay too… I’m okay.” you?’

There’s no mention of Holly in the clip, but fans were quick to clock the joke, with one calling Phillip’s series an “ego trip” before claiming he’s clearly “not as remorseful as he claims.”

Posts on X include: ‘Ooooh was that a cheeky swipe at Holly Willoughby there Phillip? Are you doing well; You’re all right… THAT HOLLY DIG!’

‘Schofe is about to draw a smiley face on a volleyball and call it ‘Willoughby’

Holly said in the original statement that: ‘It does feel very strange sitting here without Phil and I imagine you may have felt the same way I did.

“Shocked, disturbed, let down, concerned for the well-being of people on all sides of what is going on and full of questions.”

‘All of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who did not tell the truth, who behaved in a way that they themselves felt required them to resign from ITV and give up a career they loved. That’s a lot to process.”

‘It is equally difficult to see the toll this has taken on their own mental health. I think what unites us all now is the desire to heal for the health and well-being of all.”

She added, “I hope we can find strength in each other as we begin this new chapter and return to a place of warmth and magic that the show has in store for us all.”

‘And can I thank you from the heart for all your kind messages and thank you for being here this morning? Myself, Josie, Dermot, Alison, Craig and everyone who works on this show will continue to work hard every day.”

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

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

He said: “Over the last 18 months it has become as dark as it can get.

‘A year ago I came so close. I had everything in place, everything set up and everything ready and it was Molly who took care of me.”

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

“That was just enough, just enough to take a step back from the edge.” “I could have been hospitalized, I just ran to the family home, closed the gate and I was there.”

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

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

He also lied to ITV and his former co-presenter Holly Willoughby about the romance, and has not worked since.

But during the program he spoke about the relationship, saying: ‘It’s like the biggest grenade goes off in your life. You know you let people down, you know you let yourself down.

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

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

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

‘Absolute. Be yourself. Live your life to the fullest. That’s the saying: live your best life. But for me, if I do it later in life, it causes me more fear than joy at the moment because I am fully aware of the damage it leaves behind.”

It was indeed extremely difficult for his family. “When my dad came out, it was really hard for me,” Molly revealed. ‘It was very difficult for the whole family. Especially my mother of course, everything was turned upside down. But we talked about it and over time it got easier.”

Despite the affair and his coming out as gay, Schofield wears his wedding ring throughout the show – proving he is still married to Stephanie.

During the show, she broke her silence on the scandal and alluded to her own ordeal when she said: “What people don’t realize is that while they are mistreating you, other people are being affected by it.”

Molly, who works as her father’s publicist, adds: “We’ve seen him in his worst times, but I’ve been so proud of him, and as a daughter to see the love that people had for him, that when being taken away it’s just heartbreaking.’

She added, “Strangely enough, everything that’s happened lately has brought us closer together.”

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

He will leave viewers wondering if he means Holly when he said: ‘If you throw someone under a bus, you must have a very good reason for it.’

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

Since leaving television, Schofield says he has “spent days in bed” watching the news in a “maze.”

As for what he thinks about his return to the spotlight, Schofield admits he expects little sympathy. “I’m not doing this like a poor me,” he says. ‘I don’t think I’m entitled to that. I’m not entitled to a poor me.’