The story behind Phil’s coming out
The TV presenter is brought to tears in moving interview
Last week, in an emotional statement, Phillip Schofield came out as gay, leaving fans in shock. The 57 year old first posted a long statement to his Instagram account, writing that for the last few years he has been “coming to terms with the fact that I am gay”.
The This Morning presenter – who’s been married to wife Steph for 27 years and has two grown-up daughters – admitted to having struggled with his sexuality, before finally deciding to speak out, because he could no longer bear the turmoil. “You never know what’s going on in someone’s seemingly perfect life, what issues they are struggling with, or the state of their wellbeing – and so you won’t know what has been consuming me for the last few years,” he wrote. “This is something that has caused many heartbreaking conversations at home.”
Just minutes after posting his statement, Phil appeared on the This Morning sofa alongside his co-star and close friend Holly Willoughby to discuss his announcement. Phil spoke of how the decision was made “as a family” at “the right time” and that speaking out had made him feel “a little lighter”, but that he was still aware of the “pain and upset” the situation has caused his family, who were all fully supporting him.
It was clear from Phil’s words that this had been weighing heavily on him for a long time – he revealed that there had been some “very dark moments”, and he’d had trouble sleeping and had sobbed on Holly’s shoulder. He went to great lengths to lavish praise on wife Steph, saying, “We’ve gone through this together and we’ve been honest and we’ve been open... She’s astonishing, literally astonishing.” He also
said that his daughters Molly and Ruby had been “so amazing in their love and support”.
Fans of the TV presenter were quick to give their support on social media, calling him “brave” and “beautiful”, with many celebs also posting to say how proud they were of Phil. At the end of his announcement on This Morning, Ruth and Eamonn – the show’s usual Friday presenters – both hugged Phil in a show of solidarity, following recent rumours of a feud between Ruth and Phil. This did not go unnoticed by a few cynical
‘You never know what’s going on in someone’s life’
online commenters , who questioned the timing of Phil’s announcement. One wrote, “What a time to announce it, as his star was otherwise falling with talk of feuds.” Another said, “Perfectly timed to distract from the bullying and extortionate pay issues.” While a third wrote, “Seems like he’s trying to use coming out as a cultural reset.”
However, the spotlight jumped quickly from Ruth to Eamonn, as the 60-year-old Irishman made some dubious comments about his colleague’s sexuality. “I’m disappointed in a couple of ways,” Eamonn joked. “First of all, I thought you were going to come in and announce you’d resigned. And the second is, there’s this great imponderable in life that has always irritated me. I thought, ‘How come he can sit in a hot tub with Holly Willoughby, and Steph and Dan [Holly’s husband] don’t have a problem with it?’ [Ruth] would have had a problem!” Phil responded to the awkward comments by calling Holly, “The sister I never had.”
After a huge round of applause from the This Morning team, Phil told them, “You are all amazing and I love you very much.” ■