Phillip Schofield 'unlikely to return to TV' as ex-This Morning host is in 'very bad place' following review into affair
10 December 2023, 08:10
Phillip Schofield is in a "very bad place" and is unlikely to return to TV screens.
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The former This Morning presenter left the job after it emerged he had an affair with a younger co-worker.
He is said to have been "dreading" an ITV review which cleared bosses of a cover up.
But a friend says the report's publication will not mark the start of any kind of comeback.
"Phillip isn't returning anywhere, he has been in a really bad place since he decided to tell the truth and resign from his job," a friend told the Mail on Sunday.
"He has got himself into a cocoon and he is continuing to recover. He has had the report hanging over his head for a long time.
"It has been a thing of dread for him.
"Now that's out of the way he can start to build a life of some kind but there is no way he will be in the public eye again for a very long time, if ever again."
The ITV review found "considerable efforts" were made to find out the truth about Schofield's relationship but was "unable to uncover the relevant evidence" until the star admitted the affair.
Schofield "reluctantly declined" to take part in an external review into the circumstances surrounding his departure from ITV because of "the risk to his health," the external review into the affair added.
Jane Mulcahy KC said that she has been informed Schofield's mental health has since deteriorated.
He left This Morning earlier in the year, stunning fans who had spent years watching his on-screen chemistry with Holly Willoughby.
But she rapidly distanced herself from him, and has also left the daytime show.
Schofield has characterised the relationship as "ill-advised but not illegal".
