After his high-profile exit from This Morning last May, Phillip Schofield’s return to our screens was always going to be a dramatic affair. But viewers’ jaws dropped last week when Phillip Schofield: Cast Away aired on Channel 5, as the disgraced presenter, 62, appeared to make digs at his former co-host Holly Willoughby.
And now insiders tell Closer that his one-time BFF Holly, 43, has been blindsided by Phillip’s comments, and is even considering telling her side of the story at last.
A source reveals, ‘Holly is ready to take the gloves off and fight. She feels she has been more than fair and kind to Phil given everything he’s been accused of – and not to mention the difficult situation he put her in – so to even create speculation that Holly is one of the people who have betrayed him is crossing the line for her.
‘Holly is furious over Phil’s behaviour, not showing any remorse and what appears to be him throwing former colleagues under the bus. She has stood up for him and protected him so many times and this is the last straw for her.’
When it was announced last month that Phillip would be making his TV return 16 months after his This Morning exit, people were shocked. Unusually, the show was announced just days before it aired, leaving people surprised it had been kept a secret.
The three-part series, which comedian Ruby Wax had previously taken part in, saw father-of-two Phillip spending 10 days living on a remote, unpopulated island off the coast of Madagascar, while grappling with ‘what went right and what went wrong’ in his life.
Without publicly sharing names, Phil burned a list of his ‘enemies’ before running into the sea naked. He also alluded to ‘three s***s’ of showbiz – former ITV colleagues who he claimed contributed to his downfall – saying one was a ‘coward who never stepped up’ in their scandal over queueing for the Queen’s coffin, one who never defended him ‘when I was being battered’, and one who was ‘just brand-orientated’.
Once upon a time, Phil and Holly were the best of friends. The pair met when they co-hosted Dancing On Ice together in 2006, with Holly joining him on This Morning three years later. And they were just as close when the cameras stopped rolling, and were known for their raucous nights out and family holidays together.
Holly, who has three children with TV producer husband Dan Baldwin, was integral in supporting Phillip when he publicly came out as gay in 2020, and she offered support to his wife of 27 years Stephanie Lowe when the pair separated.
But when Phil admitted to lying about his affair with the younger man, Holly was left blindsided. Their friendship never recovered; in a 2023 interview following his exit from the show, Phil – who has since deleted all traces of Holly from his social media – said that he begged for Holly’s forgiveness for lying to her, but that she ‘understandably’ didn’t reply.
Now, insiders say that Cast Away has brought the whole nightmare situation back for Holly.
The source continues, ‘Holly’s whole world was turned upside down as a result of Phillip’s behaviour. She always knew that Phil would come back to TV, but this has sparked a whole new scandal – it’s not what she expected him to do.
‘It’s been really hard for her over the last couple of weeks – it's basically been like a nightmare reawakening.’
Holly, who quit This Morning herself months later in October 2023 when her stalker Gavin Plumb was arrested, briefly addressed Phillip’s scandal when he left the ITV show. Hosting alongside Josie Gibson, she asked viewers, ‘Are you OK?’ as she referred to Phillip as, ‘Someone who was not telling the truth’. It was this monologue that Phillip appeared to parody on Cast Away, when he too asked his family if they were ‘OK’.
Phillip’s apparent mockery of Holly appears to have been a turning point for her. We’re told that the presenter is even considering ‘speaking out’ and telling her side of the story with pal Piers Morgan. As the Phillip scandal unfolded, Piers defended Holly, calling her a ‘good friend’ and ‘tough cookie’, and sources say he’s been chasing an interview with his former ITV channel mate for ‘a long time’.
The insider continues, ‘Piers is not a massive fan of Phillip, while Piers and Holly have known each another for years. They are good friends, so she knows that she could trust Piers if they sat down for an interview.
‘Piers is willing to wait. He knows what a massive interview it would be and is happy to give Holly the space she needs to decide and make up her mind. Holly thinks it's unfair how only one side has been given, and many of her friends are encouraging her to address it and stand up for herself. If she does open up, the chances are it will be with Piers.’