As Phillip Schofield staggered on to the road after a boozy afternoon out, clutching a vape with one hand and the waist of his male companion with the opposite, he seemed each inch the carefree bachelor.
The beleaguered former presenter was accompanied by male good friend Joshua Luke Sharman, a London primarily based nurse, throughout an go to to the town’s first LGBTQ+ devoted cinema, the Arzner Bar & Cafe in Bermondsey.
With summer time temperatures hovering, Schofield, 63, seemed considerably worse for put on, however luckily, the previous This Morning star had Sharman – who describes himself as a ‘nurse, tutorial, inexperienced aviator and clueless however optimistic PhD candidate’ – readily available as a supportive and stabilising presence.
Schofield’s spouse Stephanie Lowe – the opposite supportive and stabilising presence in his life, for altogether completely different causes – seemed to be absent as he walked arm-in-arm with Sharman throughout Bermondsey Sq..
To all intents and functions, the star – who got here out as homosexual greater than 5 years in the past – seemed like a carefree single man throughout his newest public look on Tuesday, regardless of his 32-year marriage to Stephanie.
His loyal spouse beforehand insisted she would totally assist her husband’s ‘courageous step’ and ‘stand by his aspect’ as he publicly introduced his sexuality throughout a stay look on This Morning. However with Schofield now residing as an brazenly homosexual man, one can’t assist however marvel if – or certainly when – the amicable couple may finalise an equally amicable divorce.
Phillip Schofield had a supportive shoulder to lean on as he rounded off a boozy go to to the pub on Tuesday afternoon – and as he is aware of all too properly, it would not be the primary
A rising variety of superstar {couples} are selecting to not divorce, regardless of being separated, together with Phillip Schofield and spouse Stephanie Lowe (pictured)
The previous presenter was accompanied by Joshua Luke Sharman, a London primarily based nurse, throughout an look on the metropolis’s first LGBTQ + devoted cinema, the Arzner Bar & Cafe
Schofield was 25-years outdated and a recent confronted kids’s TV presenter when he met Stephanie, on the time a manufacturing assistant for CBBC.
Six years later they had been married, with the glad couple exchanging vows in appropriately romantic environment on the sixteenth century, Class A listed Ackergill Tower, situated in Sinclair’s Bay on Scotland’s rugged northern coast.
The duties of parenthood would quickly observe; already pregnant on her marriage ceremony day, Stephanie welcomed the couple’s first youngster – daughter Molly – simply 4 months later, in July 1993.
Second youngster Ruby adopted in 1996, the arrival coinciding with a transitional interval for Schofield, who had branched into mainstream TV presenting and West Finish musical theatre after endearing himself to hundreds of thousands because the face of CBBC and Saturday morning youngsters present Going Dwell!
Stephanie in the meantime, was an ever current, the supportive and constant spouse pictured alongside her husband at showbiz soirees and crimson carpet occasions as his profession went from energy to energy.
And little seems to have modified, regardless of Schofield – whose TV profession now lies in ruins – later admitting he cheated on her with a youthful male colleague whereas host of ITV daytime flagship This Morning, a job he occupied for 21 years earlier than his departure in 2023.
Schofield was 25-years outdated and a recent confronted kids’s TV presenter when he met Stephanie, on the time a manufacturing assistant for CBBC (pictured with daughters Molly and Ruby in 2002)
Stephanie was an ever current, the supportive and constant spouse pictured alongside her husband at showbiz soirees and crimson carpet occasions as his profession went from energy to energy
The downturn started in 2020, when Schofield – supported by This Morning co-host Holly Willoughby – introduced in a tearful deal with to viewers that he’s homosexual
Schofield later admitted he was suicidal through the bitter fallout that ensued, however nonetheless had the valued assist of his spouse and two kids.
Nonetheless, insiders painted a extra sophisticated image of the household dynamic, which revealed their pulling collectively was a matter of extra than simply household loyalty.
‘After so lengthy collectively, Steph and Phil are co-dependent. They might somewhat be a united entrance and keep collectively’, an insider instructed Day by day Mail in 2024, including that in the event that they broke up it could ‘create much more drama’ for them and their daughters.
One other good friend mentioned: ‘They nonetheless love one another. It is that easy’.
Schofield’s profession imploded as his infidelity with an ITV staff-member got here to mild, as did his as soon as rock strong friendship with co-host Holly Willoughby, to whom he lied in regards to the affair.
Simply 4 years earlier Willoughby had comforted the emotional presenter stay on air as he confirmed his sexuality in a tearful deal with to hundreds of thousands of viewers, however the writing seemed to be on the wall after Schofield’s infidelity was uncovered.
Loyal Stephanie remained a tower of energy for her under-fire husband (L-R: Molly Lowe, Phillip Schofield, Stephanie Lowe and Ruby Lowe on the crimson carpet in 2018)
Regardless, loyal Stephanie remained a tower of energy for her under-fire husband.
‘I like Phillip, as a lot right this moment as I ever have, and at all times will,’ she instructed The Solar on the time.
‘We have been awestruck by the energy and love of our treasured ladies, at the same time as they have been attempting to make sense of all of it for themselves. Our household have additionally been so supportive and can assist us going ahead.
‘Though that is tough for us all, I assist Phillip in taking this courageous step. I’ll nonetheless be there, holding his hand. Everybody must be proud to stay their very own fact.’
The couple’s enduring closeness was properly in proof final 12 months, when the Schofields allowed Channel 5 cameras into their Oxfordshire residence for his warts-and-all docuseries, Phillip Schofield: Forged Away.
Schofield, going through an unsure skilled future after leaving This Morning below a ruinously black cloud, was tasked with the unenviable problem of residing alone on a distant tropical island for ten days, the place he would ‘face the challenges of life in isolation.’
However not earlier than bidding farewell to his family members over a boozy lunch, throughout which viewers got a singular perception into his relationship with Stephanie and their daughters.
Molly, who now works as her father’s publicist, insisted that he and his spouse Stephanie are ‘nonetheless greatest good friend’ (Stephanie is pictured on Phillip Schofield: Forged Away)
‘We have seen him in his lowest occasions, however I have been so pleased with him, and as a daughter to see the love that individuals had for him that when it is taken away it is simply heartbreaking,’ mentioned Molly, who now works as her father’s publicist, in a scene from the present.
‘Weirdly the whole lot that is occurred just lately has made us nearer. When my dad got here out, it was, it was very laborious for me.
‘It was very laborious for the complete household. Primarily my mum, in fact, the whole lot was turned the other way up. However we talked by it and over time it is bought simpler.’
She added: ‘My mum, my sister, we’re all the identical we’ll at all times continued to assist him it doesn’t matter what. And I by no means thought it could have gone the best way it has however to have my mother and father nonetheless greatest associates. I am the luckiest individual ever.’
Within the first episode, Schofield instructed how he had ‘the whole lot in place’ for a suicide try, however determined towards it when his eldest daughter Molly persuaded him to not.
He mentioned: ‘Within the final eighteen months, it bought as darkish as it’s attainable to get. A 12 months in the past I bought so, so shut. I had the whole lot in place, the whole lot was arrange and the whole lot was prepared and it was Molly that was taking care of me.’
Schofield was tasked with the unenviable problem of residing alone on a distant tropical island for ten days, the place he would ‘face the challenges of life in isolation’
Schofield along with his spouse Stephanie on his62nd birthday weekend. The couple nonetheless put on their marriage ceremony rings
He defined: ‘Molly and Ruby each taking care of me on the time, and Molly mentioned: ‘Do you think about what this could do to us for those who truly managed to tug this off?
‘Are you able to think about what would occur and may you think about what it could do to me for those who did this on my watch?’
‘That was simply sufficient, simply sufficient to take a step again from the sting. I may have been hospitalised, I simply raced to the household residence and shut the gates and I used to be in there.’
He later paid tribute to his spouse, Molly and his youngest daughter Ruby, including: ‘With out them, I would not be right here.’
Schofield’s return to tv on Forged Away cames 16 months after he was pressured to apologise to the Mail for mendacity about his affair along with his former This Morning colleague.
However through the programme, he addressed the connection, saying: ‘It is like the largest grenade going off in your life. You realize you let individuals down, you realize you have let your self down.
‘It was an unwise and unprofessional factor to do. I might be eternally sorry. I screwed up. I made a mistake, and I harm the individuals round me.’
Certainly, however what now for the Schofields? If historical past has instructed us something, it tells us that love, nevertheless flawed, can climate any storm.
Solely time will inform if it lasts.
