I didn’t feud with Holly... I clung to her and she held me together
Schofield ‘rift claim’ was torture
PHILLIP Schofield dismissed rumours of a rift with Holly Willoughby, saying her knowing about him being gay brought them closer.
The This Morning star is reeling from reports that their relationship was on the brink, with him jealous of her success.
There were also claims of an “atmosphere” on set and that he was difficult to work with.
Phillip said his co-star Holly was in fact an emotional rock as he wrestled with his sexuality.
In his new book Life’s What You Make It, Phillip admits: “We were closer than we had ever been.
“Holly knew my truth and was helping me to hold everything together.”
He also says the claims affected his mental health, adding: “It felt like death by a thousand cuts, each little wound not serious on its own but, collectively, I felt like I was bleeding out.
“It went on, week after week, relentlessly feeding on itself and based on not one single truth that I could identify.” The TV star, married to Steph for 27 years, revealed on the ITV show in February that he has “been coming to terms with the fact that I am gay”. He said yesterday in an interview how there were “lots and lots of hours of talking to Steph and hugging Steph”. Schofield added: “We talked the whole thing through, there were no secrets, there have never been any secrets. “When I knew, she knew. And it wasn’t like a sudden ping, it was like ‘ This is tripping me up’ – initially I didn’t understand.” Phillip was in such turmoil that he once refused to go on to present at the last minute. Holly fronted This Morning alone and viewers were told Phillip was poorly. The book also tells of the physical effect of his turmoil, as another day he rushed off set to be sick and lost so much weight that viewers started asking whether he was ill.