Phillip Schofield was backed by his former This Morning co-stars Dermot O’Leary, Alison Hammond and Josie Gibson as he announced his TV return on Cast Away.

The disgraced presenter has secretly filmed a special three part series for Channel 5, which required him to give up his home comforts for 10 days of soul-searching on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean, which he described as his ‘story of survival’.

It will be the first time Schofield has been on TV since leaving the ITV‘s This Morning in May 2023 after admitting to having a relationship with a much younger male colleague.

He shared the news on his Instagram with a teaser clip for the show which was liked by Alison, Dermot and Josie, according to The Mirror.

Comments on the post had been turned off and there was no sign of his former close friend Holly Willoughby supporting him after he posted the announcement.

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Phillip Schofield was backed by his former This Morning co-stars Dermot O’Leary, Alison Hammond and Josie Gibson as he announced his TV return on Cast Away

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He shared the news on his Instagram with a teaser clip for the show which was liked by Alison (left), Dermot and Josie, according to The Mirror

Meanwhile Vanessa Feltz who regularly stars on This Morning said of the new show while talking to The Sun: ‘I’m surprised but delighted, and I hope it’s great entertainment, and I hope that he achieves from it whatever he wants to achieve.

‘I’d like to see it, I’m intrigued to see it and I wish him all the very best.’

‘I see why he would have chosen it, although it’s not what I would have expected. It seems to me that he would have autonomy over it, he is the only person in it, he was the only person filming it.’

Eamonn Holmes however had a less positive reaction as he simply chuckled and sarcastically said ‘very good’ as the news was discussed on GB News this week.

Loose Women’s Nadia Sawalha has also weighed in saying on her podcast: ‘The trailer was popping onto phones all over the place yesterday and everyone was aghast.

‘When I was first sent it, there was no message with it, so I thought it was a joke.

‘I just couldn’t believe it. First of all, I cringed. If I’m honest, I absolutely cringed when I saw that video. I thought ‘That is so embarrassing’. That was my first feeling.’

‘I feel he’s told his side of the story. I feel like we’ve only heard his side of the story because he did that great big spread in the Sun and another interviews.’

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Comments on the post had been turned off and there was no sign of his former close friend Holly Willoughby supporting him after he posted the announcement (This Morning stars all seen in 2022)

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The disgraced presenter has secretly filmed a special three part series for Channel 5, which required him to give up his home comforts for 10 days of soul-searching on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean, which he described as his ‘story of survival’

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It will be the first time Schofield has been on TV since leaving the ITV’s This Morning in May 2023 after admitting to having a relationship with a much younger male colleague

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View gallery

Eamonn Holmes however had a less positive reaction as he simply chuckled and sarcastically said ‘very good’ as the news was discussed on GB News this week

‘He’s also very clever so I think he understands an audience and I think he knows how to speak to an audience. So I think, yes, he’ll be very, very careful.

‘He lied to everybody at work. He left people to deal with his s**t, I feel, in my opinion.’

Phillip broke down in tears and said the scandal around his departure from This Morning ‘destroyed’ him as he released a trailer for his new TV survival show today.

The scandal, which dominated the headlines for months, led to the breakdown of his friendship with co-presenter Holly and ‘devastated’ his wife Steph.

The couple separated in 2020 when Phillip came out as gay but had remained close until his betrayal was revealed.

Billed as ‘an authentic and intense physical and mental challenge’ Channel 5 have confirmed that Phillip was ‘left alone with only a handful of cameras to document his own experience.’

One clip from the show, released today, sees Schofield in tears telling the camera: ‘I know what I did was unwise, but is it enough to completely destroy someone?’

But while Schofield may hope the move will allow him to reconnect with viewers, the show has already been met with disdain by the public and TV critics alike, with some it a ‘disgrace’ and branding the former presenter ‘narcissistic’.

The series will air across three nights from Monday September 30 to Wednesday October 2, in three 60 minute instalments.

It follows Phillip as he is cast away for ten days and nine nights on a remote, unpopulated island off the coast of Madagascar.

Viewers will see the axed presenter reflect on the emotional impact of his exile from mainstream TV after news of his affair with a 20-year old runner on This Morning came to light.

It’s understood that Schofield was given a handheld camera, body cameras and a sound pack before being left to record his emotional week-and-a-half long journey.

The TV comeback has been met with disdain by the public with one declaring: ‘If this is designed to make people feel sorry for him, it will backfire massively. People were just starting to forget, and now they are raking it all up again.’

One said: ‘There’s shameless. Totally shameless,’ while another added: ‘How tke [sic] f*** is Phillip Schofield getting a tv show? This is a disgrace.’

Scott Bryan added: ‘Quite shocked by that Phillip Schofield show but then I remembered that this is Channel 5 so hardly not surprising.’

TalkTV presenter Renée Hoenderkamp branded the star as a ‘narcissist’, adding that she did not think he should be having anymore screen time. She said: ‘Is this not a chance for a narcissist to just have more me time on screen? I don’t want to know his story, I’m not interested in it.’

In a statement to promote the series Phil said: ‘This is most definitely a first for me and the only thing I felt compelled to do.’

‘It appealed to me on so many levels. I’ve recently had a lot of time to think about my life, what went right and what went wrong, but I’ve always had the safe arms of friends and family wrapped around me.’

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Loose Women’s Nadia Sawalha has also weighed in saying on her podcast: ‘The trailer was popping onto phones all over the place yesterday and everyone was aghast’

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Meanwhile Vanessa Feltz who regularly stars on This Morning said of the new show while talking to The Sun: ‘I’m surprised but delighted, and I hope it’s great entertainment, and I hope that he achieves from it whatever he wants to achieve’

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Schofield will discuss his acrimonious departure from ITV and daytime show This Morning while fending for himself on the island, located off the coast of Madagascar

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Viewers will see the axed presenter discuss the emotional impact of his exile from mainstream

‘This time it’s just me, no ‘phone, no comforts, no crew and only lip balm as a luxury. I’m looking forward to exploring the island, trying to tie knots to secure my shelter and foraging and fending for myself in the wild … with no help.’

‘Maybe I’ll be Robinson Crusoe, or maybe I’ll just be Tom Hank’s Wilson and quietly drift off into the wild blue yonder!!’

While Phillip was alone on the island for ten days, the production team were stationed 30 minutes offshore, and were told only to intervene in the event of an extreme emergency.

Phillip’s mental health and physical safety were monitored as the experience progressed.

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Source: CNN