Phillip Schofield's daughter declares 'I'm proud to call him my dad' in moving admission

The daughter of Phillip Schofield says she is "proud to call him dad" and says he has come a long way after struggling with suicidal thoughts when he left ITV last year.

Viewers will see the former This Morning host back on TV this week on Channel Five in the series Phillip Schofield Cast Away. The series ends on Wednesday with him feeling rejuvenated after spending ten days marooned alone on a tropical island off the coast of Madagascar with a handful of cameras following his nearly two-year absence from the limelight.

Towards the end of the final third episode, daughter Molly says: "Seeing him recover, we never thought that would happen. We never thought that would happen. So now he is where he is. It is the best thing ever, seeing how far he's come. I am so incredibly proud to say he's my dad, and I always will be, no matter what."

READ MORE: Phillip Schofield claims he was sacked by ITV over 'brother's sex assault conviction'

Her comments come after earlier in the series Phillip spoke about how important his family are to him and how they kept him sane. The former ITV host reflected on how "dark" his life became and how his daughters helped him "take a step back from the edge" as he returns to the small screen on Channel 5 this week. Fighting back tears he says: "In the last 18 months it got as dark as it is possible to get.

"A year ago I got so so close. I had everything in place, everything was set up and everything was ready and it was Molly that was looking after me, Molly and Ruby (daughters) both looking after me at the time and Molly said do you imagine what this would do to us if you actually managed to pull this off. Can you imagine what would happen and can you imagine what it would do to me if you did this on my watch? And that was enough just to take a step back from the edge. And I could have been hospitalised, I had the option to be hospitalised but I just thought that is going to get out so I raced to the family home."

Schofield, 62, came out as gay in February 2020 but whilst on the desert Island he also admits it was not as freeing for him as it can be for some people and came with its own problems. He explained: "I'm very proud of what I did, and I know that coming out for many people is liberating....but for me doing it later in life, at the moment it's just given me more anguish than joy because I am fully aware of the damage that is leaves."

He also says he has spent a "chunk of his older life" locked away feeling sad. Daughter Molly also hints at the strife Schofield has put his whole family through.

She says: "When my dad came out it was very hard for me. It was very hard for the entire family. Mainly my mum, of course, everything was turned upside down. But we talked through it and it got easier."

* Phillip Schofield Cast Away airs for three nights from Monday 30 th September at 9pm on Channel 5, available to stream on My5

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