By Jack Peat
“I see nothing ahead of me but blackness.”
Phillip Schofield has expressed deep remorse while speaking out for the first time about his affair with a much younger colleague.
The former This Morning presenter gave two separate interviews to the BBC and The Sun after his career was effectively ended by the scandal.
After fleeing paparazzi waiting outside his house, Schofield sat down with Amol Rajan of the BBC for an interview in which he said he has “lost everything” and that he will never work on TV again.
“I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart,” he said, adding: “I see nothing ahead of me but blackness and sadness and regret and remorse and guilt. I did something very wrong and then I lied about it consistently.”
In a separate interview with The Sun, Schofield, who was “visibly shaking”, denied that he had groomed the colleague, saying: “I know the photos of us circulating on Twitter look shocking but I’m not a groomer”.
He also revealed he is still friends with the ex-show runner, 30 years his junior, and says their romance only started once the man was 20 after “something just happened between us that changed everything”.
During the newspaper interview, Schofield offered a huge apology to former co-host Holly Willoughby for ruining their TV partnership and confirmed that the two no longer speak.
He also said he has not watched a single This Morning since his resignation, explaining: “I can’t watch it. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to again.”
The TV presenter also told the outlet: “I’m sorry. And I will forever be sorry. I will die sorry. I am so deeply mortified.”
Read more:
- Eamonn Holmes says Holly Willoughby should ‘follow Phil out the door’ in explosive interview
- Holly Willoughby breaks silence on Philip Schofield affair and “lie”
- This Morning ‘facing the axe’ following Phillip Schofield affair scandal