Phillip Schofield Is Gay and It’s Inspiring
It shouldn’t be, but when someone in the spotlight “comes out”, it’s a big deal. Phillip Schofield, host of almost everything on ITV, sat down with Holly Willoughby last Friday to talk about coming to terms with his sexuality. He released a statement on the This Morning Twitter account, saying:
“You won’t know what has been consuming me for the last few years. With the strength and support of my wife and my daughters, I have been coming to terms with that fact that I am gay.”
In his televised interview, the star spoke about the relief he felt by telling others saying, “it gets a little lighter”. He also spoke warmly of the support he has received from family and friends, expressing his gratitude for their words, which any person coming out would want to hear:
“It’s okay, it’s okay. We love you, we’re proud of you.”
The reaction across social media has been overwhelmingly positive, with stars such as Gok Wan MBE, John Barrowman and Dr Ranj showing their support for the Silver Fox. The great thing about Schofield’s coming out, aside from his being able to express his true identity, is that this act will now become a massive inspiration to many members of the LGBTQ+ community, across the globe. Over the past decade, Phillip Schofield has become a household name with all generations — his presence on Snapchat drawing a large fanbase among the younger demographic, and many older viewers tuning in to This Morning during the daytime. Having someone at the forefront of mainstream media draw attention to this minority group is a huge step for gay rights and may even inspire viewers, young and old, to tell their own truths.
Although the press has been hard on Schofield for a long time now, with claims from the Daily Mail that he is “at the centre of a ‘civil war’ behind the scenes”, his long hugs with Willoughby and presenter Ruth Langsford suggest he relies on his established support network with them. Being a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, I know first-hand the need to keep the good ones close. This evident display of love and support, if anything, has squashed those rumours; regardless, I’m sure the tabloids will have something else to write about now.
But it’s not all positive. Twitter users are feeling upset for Schofield’s wife, Stephanie Lowe, to whom he has been married for 27 years, and for his adult children, Molly and Ruby Schofield.
One tweet from Twitter user, Jonathan Koch, paints Schofield as deceitful, inflicting pain upon his family members by lying to them. It’s tweets like these that show there are some people who still don’t understand how difficult it can be to come out, even in today’s society. But, especially in Schofield’s case, it should be noted that he built his career decades ago, in a far less accepting time. This tweet from Padraig Pearse shows us a headline from 1993 when he had just begun working for ITV.
Hardly seems unreasonable that he would have wanted to hide from this fact, given what he would have been reporting on.
On air, Schofield’s coming out was followed by questions from Willoughby about future relationships, which were quickly dismissed. Presenter Eamonn Holmes made a comment many are calling a “tacky” joke, involving Holly Willoughby in a hot tub.
Schofield looked immediately uncomfortable but remained holding her hand as he justified his actions:
“This is the sister I never had.”
Although Schofield has since jumped to the defence of Holmes, both this and the prying questions about Schofield’s sex life appear based on this established idea that sex sells; the public now want to know, ‘What’s next?’ — will our Silver Fox be finding a new mate? Will he seek a divorce with wife Stephanie? Quite frankly, it’s none of our business. For once, can the internet refuse to get involved? Can we all just sit back from the keyboard and appreciate how brave it was for a man in a very public position to reveal details of his personal life to the world?
The outrage across Twitter during the General Election in December, when Schofield appeared to be overly aggressive toward Jeremy Corbyn, whilst taking a selfie with Boris Johnson, has inevitably reappeared.
I will be the first to admit that I was angry at Schofield for his seemingly biased treatment of the two political candidates. I even went as far as to unfollow him on Twitter (I know, the height of true passive-aggressive, English rage). However, I do wonder if his extroverted support for Johnson was a reflection of what we see in a lot of LGBTQ+ folk, who are not out yet; an overcompensation, to attempt to hide who they really are. Why would he side with an openly pro-gay rights activist, when he is still battling the concept himself? This is not to in any way justify the lack of impartiality in the interview and I do not believe in using sexuality to allow this. However, I feel as if I understand Phillip Schofield just a little bit more, thanks to his coming out.
Perhaps it is a lesson to us all; everyone has their own struggles that they are battling every day. We can never truly know what is going on inside someone’s head and what they may say or do due to this. All we can do is be there for them when they tell their story.
For Phillip Schofield’s full statement, visit This Morning’s Twitter feed.
