Phillip Schofield 'had the chance to think about what went wrong' on new survival experience show

The new three-part series – titled Phillip Schofield: Cast Away – will see him spend 10 days and nine nights on a remote, unpopulated island off the coast of Madagascar.

According to Channel 5, it will also allow him to tell "his own personal story in an emotionally charged ultimate survival experience".

And judging from Schofield's own quotes, that experience allowed him plenty of time for reflection.

"This is most definitely a first for me, and the only thing I felt compelled to do," he said.

"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.

"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.

He added: "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!"

Meanwhile, Channel 5's commissioning editor, Guy Davies, said that the series was not just a survival challenge, but also a "chance for Phillip to look back over the last explosive 18 months of his life, and explore what happened."

"The audience will learn how he feels now about television and the future, as well as the past," he continued. "And it will be Phillip Schofield as we have never seen him before – unguarded, emotional and brutally honest…"

Speaking after the news of his ITV exit and at the height of the controversy surrounding him last year, Schofield had told the BBC that his TV career was "over" and referred to his affair as "a grave error".

He added at the time: "What am I going to do with my days? I see nothing ahead of me but blackness, and sadness, and regret, and remorse, and guilt. I did something very wrong, and then I lied about it consistently."

Shortly after the news had first come to light, ITV released a statement saying: "We are deeply disappointed by the admissions of deceit made tonight by Phillip Schofield."

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It continued: "The relationships we have with those we work with are based on trust. Phillip made assurances to us which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down.

"We accept his resignation from ITV and therefore can confirm that he will not be appearing on ITV as had previously been stated."

In a later statement, ITV revealed that they previously investigated "rumours" of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an ITV employee in 2020, but that they were "not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour".

Phillip Schofield: Cast Away will begin on Channel 5 on Sunday 29th September at 9pm.

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