Phillip Schofield insisted he could ‘drive a bus over so many people’ in the television industry as he reflected on his time in showbiz during the second episode of his Channel 5 show on Tuesday.
The former This Morning presenter, 62, has made his TV comeback for the first time since he stepped down from the ITV show last May following an ‘unwise’ affair with a junior colleague.
And Phillip confessed that while he feels he has been ‘chucked under the bus’ he could easily do the same to them.
He insisted: ‘I have been chucked under a bus and I could drive the same bus over so many people but I am not that sort of person.
‘I never have been, but if I sit down with a camera and the lights going, who knows what I will say.’
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Phillip Schofield has insisted he could ‘drive a bus over so many people’ in the television industry as he reflected on how his famous friends deserted him after he left This Morning
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During Tuesday’s episode of Channel 5’s Cast Away Phillip confessed that while he feels he has been ‘chucked under the bus’ he could easily do the same to them
The star also reflected on how his famous friends deserted him after his affair was revealed as he continued: ‘I know what I did and I wish I hadn’t and I know I made life tough for the people i love the most.
‘But people just went, people who I thought were my friends just went. And it’s like “What the hell”.’
He added: ‘I think another presenter or two might have done the same thing, difference is heterosexual.’
Later in episode he explained: ‘It is hard to come to the fact that the people you thought you knew are not the people you knew.’
Describing the incident as ‘utter utter betrayal’ he concluded: ‘I don’t need 200 fake friends. I’ve got 10, 15 real friends who I would die for and they would die for me.’
Channel 5’s Cast Away sees the broadcaster stranded on an uninhabited island off Madagascar for 10 days with no food or water and without a production crew.
And Phillip hasn’t held back taking multiple swipes at his former colleagues at This Morning.
Although he does not mention his former co-star Holly Willoughby, he seemed to take aim at her as he said: ‘When you throw someone under a bus, you’ve got to have a really bloody good reason to do it.
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He insisted: ‘I have been chucked under a bus and I could drive the same bus over so many people but I am not that sort of person I never have been, but if I sit down with a camera and the lights going, who knows what I will say’
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The star also reflected on how his famous friends deserted him after his affair was revealed as he continued: ‘But people just went, people who I thought were my friends just went. And it’s like “What the hell”‘
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Describing the incident as ‘utter utter betrayal’ he concluded: ‘I don’t need 200 fake friends. I’ve got 10, 15 real friends who I would die for and they would die for me’
‘Brand, ambition, is not a good enough reason to throw someone under a bus.’As the light of his campfire burned, he revealed: ‘I think there are only three s**ts [of showbiz].’
He pointed out that one was a ‘coward who never stepped up in Queuegate,’ while another ‘is a coward because they never stepped up when I was being battered’.
‘And the other one is just brand-orientated, not what you expect, not what you think you’re gonna get.’
While Phillip didn’t name any individuals, speculation has mounted that he could be taking aim at Holly, who he doesn’t mention at all throughout the series.
Another is thought to be This Morning editor Martin Frizell – who Schofield seemingly blames for letting him take the fall over ‘Queugate’, when he and Willoughby were accused of skipping the queue to see the Queen’s lying in state.
Phillip, whose career was left in tatters after he admitted to lying about his affair in May last year, no longer follows Martin on social media.
Other targets could include ITV chief Dame Carolyn McCall, who labelled Schofield’s relationship with a younger staffer as ‘deeply inappropriate’.