Phillip Schofield 'afraid to leave the house' amid affair fallout
3 June 2023, 00:06 | Updated: 3 June 2023, 03:09
Phillip Schofield has said he is afraid to leave the house and fears being spat on amid the fallout of his affair confession.
Schofield resigned from ITV last week and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to a "consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning", which he said was "unwise, but not illegal".
The affair took place before Schofield publicly came out as gay in 2020, and while he was still married to wife Stephanie Lowe, whom he wed in 1993.
The presenter had denied the relationship when questioned by the broadcaster about rumours in 2020.
"I do not know a time I will be able to walk out of the door," he told the Sun in an interview published on Friday.
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"I don't have any spirit.
"My friends tell me, 'It will get better'.
"It won't. Not now. Not this one."
The 61-year-old said though he hasn't suffered any abuse on the street, he fears being shouted at or spat on.
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"Are they spitting on me because I had an affair at work and lied about it?" he asked.
"You watch all these layers of you slide away and slide away and slide away - the things that were dear to you.
"But I deserve it. It's my fault. I deserve it."
He added that he is getting by "hour by hour. I have got my girls and my friends."
Schofield also insisted that he wouldn't use social media again, after being hounded online, and has deleted all apps and silenced notifications.
"Why would I ever, ever go back there?", he said.
ITV has launched an external review into Schofield's departure from This Morning after the presenter lied to his bosses, colleagues and his wife about the affair.
