Entertainment

Phillip Schofield: I could not have come out without Holly Willoughby by my side

The television presenter came out on air earlier this year during ITV’s This Morning.
The television presenter came out on air earlier this year during ITV’s This Morning. The television presenter came out on air earlier this year during ITV’s This Morning.

Phillip Schofield has said he “wouldn’t have wanted anyone else” by his side other than Holly Willoughby when he came out as gay live on television.

Earlier this year the presenter made the revelation while he was sitting next to his co-host during an episode of ITV’s This Morning.

He told the BBC’s The One Show that Willoughby was one of the first people he told about his sexuality.

Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby (Matt Crossick/PA)

He said: “I couldn’t have done that with anyone else, I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to be sitting by the side of me.

“We’d had a big lead up to that moment and Holly was one of the first people that I told and she’s such a wise person.

“She’s got such a calm, sensitive aura to her.”

Schofield said he had met his co-host to discuss how they would share the information with viewers.

He had initially suggested that he would reveal the information early on in This Morning on a Thursday before leaving Willoughby to present the rest of the show alongside someone else.

However, she insisted they did it on a Friday at the end of the programme before they left together.

Schofield, 58, has two daughters with his wife Steph.