I’M SO PROUD OF YOU, DAD Schofield daughter backs his gay revelation
It takes extraordinary guts to say all of this on television
PHILLIP Schofield’s daughter yesterday gave her dad her full support less than 24 hours after he announced he is gay.
Molly Lowe, 27, went online to say she was “proud” of her presenter father and declare she “loved” him.
Phillip, 57, opened up about his sexuality to co-host Holly Willoughby, 38, on This Morning on Friday – and sparked an outpouring of love from friends, family, colleagues and fans.
Talent manager Molly posted a family picture of herself with Phillip, mum Stephanie and sister Ruby, 24, on holiday.
Her moving message simply said: “Love you always, so proud of you.”
Last night Piers Morgan, who has been friends with Phillip for 30 years, said he was shocked when he heard the news.
Tough
The Good Morning Britain host praised his pal for his “extraordinary guts” but insisted he never suspected Phillip was gay.
He said: “I was pretty surprised. I was in LA so I was the last to hear.
“It takes pretty extraordinary guts to say all of this on television one morning like that.
“It must have been a very tough experience for him.
“I’ve known him a long, long time – I actually wrote an unofficial biography for Phillip 25 years ago.
“It must be strange after keeping something like that to yourself for so long to finally put it all out there – to see the public reaction and the media reaction and to have your family at home.
“It’s not an easy time and I wish him all the best.”
Piers, 54, messaged Phillip and told the star he had handled his news with “enormous grace, candour and dignity” and could now “stop worrying”.
Phillip announced he is gay via an Instagram post before taking to the This Morning couch. He told viewers he had been in a “dark” place and the secret had consumed him for a few years.
He said it had lead to “many heartbreaking conversations at home” with wife of 27 years Stephanie and his daughters.
“This is tough,” he said, his voice breaking. “This is not something that has happened quickly. I’ve had to deal with this in my head for quite some time.”
Talking about Stephanie, he went on: “I cannot write in any statement how I feel about that woman. She is amazing. She is literally astonishing.”
Sources say Stephanie has no plans to chase Phillip for a multi-million pound divorce.
One insider said: “Steph isn’t bitter over Phil’s coming out, and isn’t the type of woman to be spiteful to him by dragging him into court.
“She’s saying she is going to stick with him until he’s settled and happy in a new relationship. Then they’ll talk about an amicable deal.”
Phillip is estimated to be worth £8million. He earns £600,000 a year for co-presenting ITV’S This Morning plus £45,000 an episode for Dancing On Ice.he will be back on the show with co-star Holly tonight. The star revealed he had a private moment with Eamonn Holmes, 60, and Ruth Langford, 59, after his appearance on This Morning which had thawed frosty relations between them.
He said: “Can I just say that Eamonn and Ruth were utterly magnificent with me today, privately downstairs just the three of us and upstairs in front of the world. I couldn’t have hoped for a better, calming and loving set of hugs and support.
“I adore them both.”
Anne Diamond: Page 27