HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHIL!
The man, the myth, the OG silver fox: Phillip Schofield turned 60 years young this week, and we actually had to pinch ourselves when we realised he’s been part of the showbiz tapestry of the UK for a whopping 40 of those years.
Now as integral to British TV as Postman Pat or the Queen Vic, we’re ready to reminisce about the glitzy life and times of Mr Pip Schofe…
Fresh-faced
He has helmed the This Morning ship for the best part of 20 years now (12 of them with his bestie Holly Willoughby), so it’s easy to forget Phillip first came to our attention as a fresh-faced twenty-something in the Children’s BBC Broom Cupboard. At 3.55pm on 9 September 1985, Phillip Schofield presented the first slot for the BBC’S all-new dedicated kids’ segment, and he and his little pal Gordon the Gopher quickly became TV faves. He was so popular, he went on to host Going Live! alongside Sarah Greene, who loved their time together on the Saturday morning show. “It was a terrific experience,” she said recently, adding that Phil is “flipping good at what he does”.
But it wasn’t just as a host where Phil’s talents lay. In 1991, he was cast as the lead in the West End production of Joseph And His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, taking over from Jason Donovan. He later went on to star in the musical Doctor Doolittle, something his daughter Molly remembers fondly. Speaking about what it was like to have a famous dad, she recently said, “I remember going on a school trip to see him in Doctor Doolittle and all my friends wanting to go and find him for an autograph. I can remember queuing up myself. I just wanted it as well, I felt so left out!”
Morning sunshine
In the ’90s, Phil ditched his kids’ TV roots and branched out into grown-up telly, hosting game shows Talking Telephone Numbers with former Going Live! co-host Emma Forbes and then later Claudia Winkleman, before fronting Test The Nation alongside another formidable woman, Anne Robinson.
But it was Phil’s foray into mid-morning television that would truly see his star shine. In 2002, he joined Fern Britton on the This Morning sofa. The pair seemed to get on like a house on fire, but Fern left the show in 2009,
‘HE DESERVES HIS LEGEND STATUS’
and rumours of a feud have followed them ever since. But with Fern’s departure, came Holly Willoughby’s arrival – arguably one of the most important women in Phil’s life. The pair had already hosted two series of Dancing On Ice together, after which Phil apparently told ITV bosses there was no one else he could imagine taking over the This Morning gig from Fern. Their chemistry was undeniable and among innuendos and hangovers, the giggles haven’t stopped since the pair were put together.
Celebrating Phil’s milestone 40-year achievement in TV back in February, Holly wrote online, “For a long time, I watched you and then for the last 15 years, I have been lucky enough to sit alongside you. You have taught me so much. You have always been patient and generous with me… It’s been an honour to play a part in your TV story… love you to bits.”
TV’S king
Phil and Holly’s brother/sister friendship was never more apparent than in February 2020, when Phil made the difficult decision to publicly come out as gay on This Morning. As well as heaping praise on his wife of almost 30 years, Steph, saying, “There’s no one in my life who would have supported me, as a wife, the way she’s supported me. She’s astonishing”, Phil made it clear how much Holly meant to him. “I couldn’t have done that with anyone else,” he said of the emotional moment. “I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to be sitting beside me. We’d had a big lead up to that moment. Holly was one of the first people I told.”
From a humble broom cupboard to daytime TV king, we know that Phil has left a lasting mark on British entertainment. He fully deserves his legendary status. ■