Phillip Schofield told hates to ‘kiss his a****’ as he shared a nud3 snap from his time on a desert island for news how Cast Away.

The former This Morning presenter, 62, flew out to Madagascar to fend for himself on an island for 10 days as he made his TV comeback after stepping down from the ITV show last May following an ‘unwise’ affair with a junior colleague.

Phillip’s show has proved controversial after he seemingly took a swipe at former co-host and pal Holly Willoughby, ranted about the ‘three s***s of showbiz’ as well as making shocking claims about other male stars who may have ‘had an affair’.

Taking to his Instagram Stories on Friday he captioned the image of himself naked on the beach: ‘Thank you for your incredible support, I’ve been shown hundreds of lovely messages which are very important to me. I’m so proud of the shows’.

Before ‘Obvs the hates can…. kiss my a***’ alongside a plug for the Channel 4 show which is now available to streaming online.

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Phillip Schofield, 62, told hates to ‘kiss his a****’ as he shared a nud3 snap from his time on a desert island for news how Cast Away

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The former This Morning presenter flew out to Madagascar to fend for himself on an island for 10 days as he made his TV comeback after stepping down from the ITV show last May following an ‘unwise’ affair with a junior colleague

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Phillip’s show has proved controversial after he seemingly took a swipe at former co-host and pal Holly Willoughby, ranted about the ‘three s***s of showbiz’ as well as making shocking claims about other male stars who may have ‘had an affair’ (pictured with Holly)

Phillip took aim at the ‘three s***s of showbiz’ who betrayed amid his downfall, saying: ‘Strangely, I think another TV presenter or two might have done exactly the same thing. Difference is heterosexual. It’s not an unusual thing in the gay world for there to be a difference in age groups.’

‘That’s not that unusual in the straight world, but if that had been the case with me and it had been a woman. Pat on the back. Well done, mate.’

Holly distanced herself from her former best friend and during a ‘highly strategised’ return to the This Morning sofa in June 2023, she told viewers she had been left ‘shaken, let down and worried.’

When she returned, she began by saying: ‘Hello, Firstly, are you okay? I hope so. It feels very strange sat here without Phil.’

Appearing to reference the now-famous speech on Cast Away, Phillip is seen having a BBQ with his family before heading off to the island.

He gives out food to his wife Stephanie and their daughters Molly, 31, and Ruby, 28, and laughs: ‘If you’re ok, then we’re ok, and I’m ok… are you ok?’

No mention of Holly is made in the clip, but fans were quick to clock the jibe, with one branding Phillip’s series an ‘ego trip’, before claiming he’s clearly ‘not as remorseful as he claims.’

Posts on X included: ‘Ooooh was that a cheeky dig at Holly Willoughby there Phillip? Are you OK; Are you OK… THAT HOLLY DIG!’

‘

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Holly distanced herself from her former best friend and during a ‘highly strategised’ return to the This Morning sofa in June 2023, she told viewers she had been left ‘shaken, let down and worried’

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Appearing to reference the now-famous speech on Cast Away , Phillip is seen having a BBQ with his family before heading off to the island

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He gives out food to his wife Stephanie and their daughters Molly, 31, and Ruby, 28, and laughs: ‘If you’re ok, then we’re ok, and I’m ok… are you ok?’

‘Schofe’s about to draw a smiley face on a volleyball and call it ”Willoughby”.

Meanwhile, whilst watching the first episode, viewers branded Cast Away as ‘boring’ and ‘cringe’ and claimed they ‘won’t be watching the any more’.

Taking to X to slam it, one wrote: ‘THIS IS BORING AS HELL #PhillipSchofield.’

‘Well that’s an hour of my life I won’t get back.’

‘Prob won’t watch the next episode of the pity party, was fun to wind up the Schofield Sympathisers for an hour though #phillipschofield #castaway,’ another said.

Another wrote: ‘Well that was the most boring hour of television I’ve ever watched on Channel 5 and he is still as annoying as we all already knew. #CastAway #PhillipSchofield.’

‘This #PhillipSchofield thing is insanely cringe,’ another said.

Channel 5 bosses are said to be assessing the public’s reaction and ratings of the new series before lining up any future projects involving Schofield.

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Meanwhile, whilst watching the first episode, viewers branded Cast Away as ‘boring’ and ‘cringe’ and claimed they ‘won’t be watching the any more’

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Taking to X to slam it, one wrote: ‘THIS IS BORING AS HELL #PhillipSchofield.’

Phillip is said to have turned down a selection of big money TV offers before choosing to sign up for Cast Away.

Critics were not too impressed either, with Daily Mail’s Roland White stating that Phillip’s TV return could be the biggest television misjudgment since Prince Andrew thought his Newsnight interview ‘went well’.

In the two star review, he said: ‘By far the most entertainment to be had from last night’s episode of Cast Away (C5) was imagining the meeting which persuaded Phillip Schofield that it was a good idea to take part.

‘This could really put you back in the public eye, Phillip love,’ they might have said. ‘Because what people really want to watch these days is a big celebrity feeling sorry for themselves for an hour’.

Only an hour? It felt a lot longer. This could be the biggest television misjudgment since Prince Andrew smiled across at Emily Maitlis and said: ‘That went well, didn’t it?’

The idea is that Phillip would spend ten days alone on a tropical island off Madagascar. This is somebody, let’s not forget, who – as one of The Talent – had people at work to cater for his every whim. Could he cope?

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The show also lost out to Ben Shephard – the man who replaced Phillip on This Morning – in the ratings war

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Despite a huge promotional campaign and a 9pm prime time slot, ITV’s afternoon quiz show Tipping Point attracted more viewers than Cast Away on Monday night

‘I think there are an awful lot of people hoping that I never come back,’ he said. That just crossed the line from self-deprecation to self-pity, which is never an attractive look.

The much anticpaed show  lost out to Ben Shephard – the man who replaced Phil on This Morning – in the ratings war.

Despite a huge promotional campaign and a 9pm prime time slot, ITV’s afternoon quiz show Tipping Point attracted more viewers than Cast Away on Monday night.

Aired on Channel 5 at 9pm, Cast Away brought in a peak of 1.5 million viewers.

Phillip Schofield Cast Away: The critics’ verdicts are in

Daily Mail

Rating:

Roland White writes: ‘By far the most entertainment to be had from last night’s episode of Cast Away (C5) was imagining the meeting which persuaded Phillip Schofield that it was a good idea to take part.

‘This could really put you back in the public eye, Phillip love,’ they might have said. ‘Because what people really want to watch these days is a big celebrity feeling sorry for themselves for an hour’.

‘Only an hour? It felt a lot longer. This could be the biggest television misjudgment since Prince Andrew smiled across at Emily Maitlis and said: ‘That went well, didn’t it?’

Evening Standard

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Vicky Jessop writes: ‘There’s no attempt at balance here, not even from the producers. This is the Schofield Show, and we’re just along for the ride. Schofield himself expresses hardly any remorse, settling instead for a sort of barely-concealed resentment at his perceived ill-treatment at the hands of the press and public. And while it might make for fascinating television, it’s doubtful that this is going to hasten along any kind of return to the small screen.

‘Instead, this just reads as a desperate grab for public redemption. Queasy viewing, best avoided.’

The Guardian

Rating:

Stuart Heritage writes: ‘Whatever you think of the man, you do have to grudgingly admit that the parts where he carries out the actual premise of the show – on an island, sunburned to hell, trying to Go-Pro himself boiling limpets for sustenance – are pretty entertaining.

‘However (and this is a big however), the man absolutely cannot help himself. It’s one thing to fend for yourself in the middle of nowhere, quite another to do it without acting like the most bitter man ever to walk the Earth. And make no mistake, Schofield is an incredibly bitter man.

‘Before he even leaves his house, he’s comparing Cast Away to I’m a Celebrity, darkly muttering that he would never appear on that show because “there are just some channels, some people you won’t work for.”’

The Times

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Carol Midgley writes: ‘Did Schofield seem bitter or self-pitying as he prepared to spend ten days alone except for a camera on an uninhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar? Yes! “I think there’ll be an awful lot of people who hope that I never come back,” he said, melodramatically.

‘I hate to say it, Phillip, but most people have probably forgotten all about it and are more worried about their gas bill. “I know what I did was unwise,” he said, sitting cross-legged on a beach “but is it enough to absolutely someone?”

‘I’m no fan of Schofield, but I don’t think it is, actually. Both parties were, it seems, consenting adults. Schofield was publicly lauded when he came out as gay but vilified when he actually had a gay relationship, the charge being that it was an “abuse of power”‘

i News

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Emily Baker writes: ‘The jungle survival part of the programme was nothing we hadn’t seen before – comedian Ruby Wax endured the same experiment for Channel 5 last year, while Bear Grylls and co have been showcasing their own survival skills on screen for years.

‘Watching Schofield fish, start a fire and search for mangoes was much less interesting than what he had to say for himself. Plus, he hadn’t exactly been abandoned – his survival kit included a tent, knives, cooking equipment. He was not Tom Hanksing it.

‘Obviously – and depressingly – he came off incredibly well. Stories of his late father (who he sometimes speaks to, aloud), memories of feeling suicidal and his daughters pulling him from the brink, and ribbing himself (“I don’t quit – I’m fired, but I don’t quit”) all forced me to warm to him. But I shouldn’t have been surprised – the entire point of this series is to prime us for a Schofield renaissance.’