Phillip Schofield has compared himself to the late Caroline Flack in an explosive new BBC interview with Amol Rajan. The former This Morning presenter was questioned by Rajan about his affair and bombshell departure from the flagship ITV show in 45 minutes of intense conversation.
Schofield kept a glum look on his face throughout as he explained the timeline of his relationship with the unnamed ITV runner with whom he had an extramarital affair whilst married to Stephanie Lowe. When Rajan asked Schofield if he was okay at the beginning of the interview, the 61-year-old replied: "It's like a weird numbness.
"I know that's a selfish point of view but you come to a point where you think, how much are you supposed to take? If all those people write all of that stuff, do they ever think that there's actually a person at the other end?"
Read more: Phillip Schofield asks if people 'want him to die' and says his career is over
Schofield explained that he met the young man during a visit with a friend to a school, when the boy was around 15 years old, and was keen for a Twitter follow from Schofield. The young man, at age 19, then asked Schofield about taking on work experience on This Morning, with Schofield admitting that he was around 20 years old when they first had sexual contact.
The sexual relationship between Schofield and the runner had been rumoured for some time before the former This Morning presenter confirmed the rumours to be true last week. Following his statement, his ex-best friend Holly Willoughby claimed she had asked Schofield about the then-speculated affair when the rumours first surfaced and Schofield denied it.
Speaking about the fall of his career, Schofield told Rajan: "I have brought myself down, I am done. I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart... but [the press coverage] continues and it is day after day after day. "And, if you do that if you don't think it's going to have the most catastrophic effect on someone's mind? Do you want me to die?"
Reflecting on the support his family have given him, Schofield continued: "Because that's where I am, I have lost everything. My girls saved my life."
Schofield shared that his daughters, Ruby and Molly, have been by his side "every moment" because they're "scared" to let him out of their sight. "If my girls hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here because I don't see a future," he said.
"How much do you want a man to take and are you only truly happy when he's dead? This is how Caroline Flack felt, and it didn't stop, and I know I've done something wrong and I've owned up to doing something wrong."
Schofield added that he had received messages from concerned friends asking him what the "agenda" is and when the speculation is going to "stop". He also claimed that one said he was "being treated like Jack the Ripper".
"I haven't looked at a single thing, that would be the final push," Schofield confessed. "I haven't looked at a single newspaper, I deleted all the apps, I took off all my notifications, I have not looked at my phone or looked at the news, but well-meaning people come through to you."
Schofield said that he had received messages from loved ones and friends telling him what was being said about him, as they claimed to "know" the person he is. He also told Rajan that he would comply with ITV's external review, announced earlier this week by Dame Carolyn McCall, to "establish the facts" of his affair.
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