05 September 2023 , 12:48
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His 21-year seat on the This Morning sofa has officially been taken and his name wiped from this year's National Television Awards nominations - but Phillip Schofield has a bounce-back plan, according to an expert. The long-standing king of daytime TV quit the ITV show in May amid a rumoured feud with co-star Holly Willoughby before walking from the channel altogether when he admitted to an 'unwise but not illegal' affair with a younger colleague.
In the following days, Phil was snapped hiding out at his mum's house in Cornwall where he was joined by supportive daughter Ruby. Keeping a low profile after his tell-all BBC interview, many fans wondered when they would next see the star on their screens again, if ever. Today, he unfollowed Holly on Instagram ahead of the NTAs - her first for This Morning without Phil. He still follows her sister Kelly, while Holly is still following him - for now.
In August, the disgraced presenter was spotted smiling again as he dined with friend Vanessa Feltz at West London restaurant Little Bird. The pair kissed and hugged and were in animated conversation when Schofield broke out into a massive grin. In the past, Vanessa would appear alongside Schofield and Holly Willoughby as a regular guest on This Morning. So her public outing with Phil - at a time when others have rushed to distance themselves - sends a clear statement.
Phillip Schofield, Holly Willoughby and Vanessa Feltz on This Morning (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Edward Coram-James, crisis communications and PR expert at Go Up, claims Phil has a three-step plan for reputational recovery, with his first move being his "very well executed" tell-all BBC interview on June 2.
Step 1 - The confessional
In the interview, Phil levelled with the public and admitted he had "lost everything" after his affair. "This kind of interview is always a risk, as it can go one of two ways, you need to look no further than the fallout from Prince Andrew's interview," Ed says, hailing Phil's a success.
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"Schofield is a presenting veteran and was always going to fare better in such circumstances than the likes of the Duke of York. He is used to being in front of the camera, being personable, amendable and human, and saying what he has to say.
"Over many weeks' worth of relentless barrages, Schofield was ridiculed, demonised and dehumanised, to the point where he became nothing more than a fair game punching bag. In the interview, we were reminded that he was a person. And a person that, actually, we all quite like. And that, as wrong as it is, people have affairs. He was apologetic and took full responsibility.
"And the public likes to see people take accountability when they make mistakes. More importantly, he looked like a truly broken man. The effects of what we as the public had done to him were so in-your-face that people could not help but notice and reflect on whether the punishment fit the crime. Whether it was time to put the claws away. The interview stopped the story from escalating further."
The tell-all chat came after Phil, who was married to wife Stephanie at the time of his relationship with the male colleague, released a shock statement, admitting: "The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning. I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.
"I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife...," he said in a statement released to the Daily Mail.
Phil will make a comeback, according to Edward (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
PR expert Edward Coram-James specialises in crisis management (Go Up)Phillip claimed he covered up the fling for years in a bid to "protect" his former colleague and as the star confirmed his affair, he agreed to part ways with his management company of 35 years, YMU Group. While ITV at the time told the Mirror that when rumours began to swirl between Phil and an ITV employee in 2020, they investigated the matter.
Following the news of the affair, best pal Holly took to Instagram to distance herself. She wrote: "It's taken time to process yesterday's news. When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not. It's been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie." And later, in her first appearance back on the This Morning sofa, alongside Josie Gibson, the host said she had been left "shaken, troubled, let down and worried" amid the scandal.
The former best pals have been snubbed from this year's NTAs (David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock for NTA)2 - Huw Edwards
The next step of his apparent comeback came about by chance, Ed claims, when Huw Edwards' scandal distracted the public and held up a mirror, with many comparing the two crises. "The target this time was Huw Edwards. Yes, Edwards had been accused of something very bad. But, in the UK we have the presumption of innocence for a reason. Social media, the media and politicians alike assumed that the unnamed BBC presenter was guilty before he had even been named, let alone before any formal investigation had taken place.
"The importance of the presumption of innocence is highlighted by the fact that, just days after the accusation had been made, the alleged victim released a statement calling it 'rubbish'. Nonetheless, it was not this that saved Edwards. His wife, the esteemed producer Vicky Flind, released a statement confirming that it was indeed Huw who was at the centre of the BBC presenter scandal, and reminded the public of his very real and devastating struggles with mental health.
Ed says the public compared the two cases of Edwards and Schofield, forcing them to reflect on the latter's treatment (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)"Immediately, he was humanised. And the world jumped to his defence. The double standard between how Schofield had been treated, and how Edwards had been treated, was one of the striking factors that came to the fore in the Edwards crisis. Without having to say a word himself, Schofield managed to pull a blinder. A mirror was put up to the public and the press, and a lingering stench of homophobia stung the nostrils.
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"Without it even having to be pointed out, it was impossible for the public not to make the side-by-side comparison and to take note of the double standard. This took a lot of the sting out of the Schofield saga. But still, where were the high-profile endorsements of Schofield? Why had Edwards received such widespread, high-profile backing, but Schofield was still persona non grata?"
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3 - New friends, new image
Phase three in his attempted rehabilitated public image, Ed claims, is to be normalised once more. "The first step of this is other high-profile personalities removing his unfairly given pariah status... whereas others have shied away from public contact with Schofield, probably out of fear that such a conspicuous endorsement of him might result in them becoming the target of a social media pile-on themselves, the much loved Feltz has taken a stand. She has been brave and her bravery will help to normalise others to step up and do the same. The more Schofield is seen out and about with universally loved TV personalities, the more his image will be rehabilitated by association in the minds of the public.
"The next step in phase three of his image rehabilitation will be for the likes of Feltz to invite him onto their shows, to normalise the idea of him being on TV again and it will not take too many appearances on various programs. The public needs to see him in his natural environment, doing what he does best. And that’s making people feel a little bit of warmth when they turn on the TV. Give him the chance to do it again, and all but a few bitter people will be quick to forgive his mistakes."
Ed then believes that following his integration back on screens, one of the networks could offer him a more permanent position. "Schofield has been on television for a very long time and has earned himself a lot of friends and admirers in high places," the expert continued. "Before those people can act in helping him to work again, they first need to see that the danger to themselves has been greatly reduced. Steps 1-3 will do that.
"Warren Buffett warned that 'It takes 20 years to build a reputation, and 5 minutes to ruin it'. But never underestimate the ability for people to rehabilitate their image, and for the public to not only allow that to happen, but to want it to happen. And if we know one thing in crisis communications, it's that, so long as the wrongdoing is not truly heinous, everyone loves a good journey and will gladly allow it to happen. Schofield spent many years building a reputation for being a kind-hearted presenter and 'the most popular man in Britain'.
"There are steps that he can take to help ease this on its way. And, happily, it seems that he is taking those steps. That reputation may have been damaged, but it isn't yet gone."
Phillip Schofield's representatives wished not to comment.