Eamonn Holmes saw red on Tuesday while discussing the fallout from former colleague Phillip Schofield’s dramatic return to mainstream TV.
Schofield has divided Channel 5 viewers after travelling to a remote island in the Indian Ocean for new three-part series Cast Away – his first TV work since parting ways with ITV more than 18-months ago.
The married presenter’s career was thought to be over after he admitted to lying about an affair with a young male runner on This Morning.
Discussing his return with GB News co-host Isabel Webster, Holmes reacted angrily after she insisted the presenter ‘hadn’t done anything illegal’ in having the affair.
‘Why is that even relevant?’ he barked. ‘He met the boy when he was 15, so why do you keep on pushing that?’
Eamonn Holmes saw red on Tuesday while discussing the fallout from former colleague Phillip Schofield ‘s dramatic return to mainstream TV
Schofield has divided Channel 5 viewers after travelling to a remote island in the Indian Ocean for new three-part series Cast Away – his first TV work since parting ways with ITV
Holmes, who worked with Schofield on This Morning and has made no secret of his dislike for the presenter, previously admitted he was ‘very proud to have thrown him under the bus.’
‘This man is addicted to fame, absolutely addicted to fame,’ he claimed, adding the presenter ‘deserved’ to be in exile.
Schofield’s lover was just 15 when they met at a talk the TV presenter was giving at a theatre school, The Mail on Sunday previously revealed.
At the time, the schoolboy asked him for a job, and Schofield later arranged an interview for him. It led to a position as an ITV production assistant when he turned 18. Some time afterwards, their affair began.
While filming Cast Away, Schofield referred to himself as the ‘shamed, disgraced Philip Schofield, who had an affair’.
The former This Morning host said: ‘Strangely, I think another TV presenter or two might have done exactly the same thing.
‘Difference is heterosexual. It’s not an unusual thing in the gay world for there to be a difference in age groups.
‘That’s not that unusual in the straight world, but if that had been the case with me and it had been a woman. Pat on the back. Well done, mate.’
Schofield admitted to a secret affair with a younger male colleague at ITV, but strongly denies accusations of grooming.
At the time Schofield denied he had been ‘forced out’, and said he was ‘so very, very sorry’ for lying to ITV, his colleagues, wife and friends.
An external review, carried out by Jane Mulcahy KC on behalf of ITV found the channel made ‘considerable efforts’ to find out the truth about an alleged affair between Schofield and a runner in 2019, but was not able to find evidence about the rumours.
Schofield ‘reluctantly declined’ to take part in the probe because of ‘the risk to his health’, the report in December 2023 said.
Mulcahy said that for the period she reviewed, she could not find evidence of a ‘toxic’ culture, and urged ITV to help junior employees who think speaking out will have a ‘detrimental impact on their careers’.
At the end of the Channel 5 programme, Schofield said he was undecided on whether he would return to presenting.
Beginning to tear up, he said: ‘Now I’m not saying I’m done but you know, never in a million years will I go back to daytime telly. I’ve lived a hundred TV lives.’
At the end of the programme, Schofield could be seen reuniting with his daughter Molly, 31, and their dog, with Molly saying she was ‘proud to say he’s my dad’.
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