few stars have put themselves in the microscope like Schofield has in Cast Away (Picture: Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited/Burning Bright Productions/PA Wire)
It’s been 16 months since Phillip Schofield’s affair with a much younger This Morning colleague was exposed and put an abrupt end to a 40-year television career.
There have been few stars to capture the hearts of the nation quite like Schofield, or ‘Phil’ as he was affectionately known until that started to feel a little too friendly and familiar when he admitted lying to us, his family, and his colleagues including his best friend Holly Willoughby.
‘I know what I did was unwise, but was it enough to absolutely destroy someone?’ is the question put to the public in his long-awaited comeback, a three-part docuseries following the presenter stranded on a deserted island for 10 days with just a lip balm for company.
After more than a year of total silence, it was unclear if Schofield would even want to dip his tow back in television, face public scrutiny, and rehash the trauma of becoming public enemy number one at the centre of a national scandal.
If he was going to return to television, how would he even do it?
In Cast Away, Schofield makes sure he is in the driver’s seat for his first time on television since he was last seen shaking and furiously vaping during an uncomfortable interview with BBC’s Amol Rajan.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Up Next
Throughout he gently nudges that he’s unemployed and ‘loves’ TV without explicitly begging for work. He might be reluctant to reveal he’s hoping to relaunch his clear but it is crystal clear he is looking for redemption.
Channel 5 received plenty of backlash when they announced Cast Away – once again a powerful white man has proven to be uncancellable.
I was in the small camp who felt like Schofield did deserve a chance to have a say, more so after the car-crash interviews he shouldn’t have given so soon after losing his career and was still trembling. I don’t necessarily think he could or should clear his name, but he should be able to publicly apologise to every single person he betrayed.
Cast Away is Schofield’s chance to do just that – and on his terms.
Granted, he does concede he will ‘be forever sorry’ after ‘hurting the people around me’ but for three episodes there’s otherwise very little sign of guilt or remorse.
It feels like a wasted opportunity. This was the moment to show that he’s spent the last 16 months growing, and is heading to a deserted island to reflect on the damage he inflicted. Instead, it feels as though there is still more anger towards ITV and his abrupt exit than there is regret.
Schofield is still seething at ITV (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Schofield clearly feels very hard-done by. He claims to have been fired from This Morning because of the negative publicity surrounding his brother Timothy Schofield, who was sentenced to 12 years …read more
Source:: Metro
