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 he and 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 was supported at the time by his wife Stephanie and their two daughters.

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

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

Phil and Stephanie never legally divorced and sources close to the couple previously said she “still loves him very much” and will always remain in his “support system” with their daughters Molly and Ruby.

Molly, who works as her father’s publicist, said despite the struggles plaguing the family, Phillip and Stephanie are still close.

She said: “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, it’s just heartbreaking when it’s taken away.”

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

“When my dad came out, it was really hard for me,” Molly continued.

‘It was very difficult for the whole family. Especially my mother of course, everything was turned upside down. But we discussed it and over time it became easier.

“My mother, my sister, we are all the same, we will always support him no matter what.

“And I never thought it would have turned out this way, but for my parents to still be best friends, it’s just, I’m the happiest person ever.”

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 elaborates on 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.”

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.’