The truth about those Phillip Schofield comeback rumours: KATIE HIND reveals the TV prospects for axed star... whose sources say is still 'furious' one year on - believing he was 'thrown under the bus'

An evening retired pinch I'm A Celebrity big Declan Donnelly, captured by nan paparazzi, was bound to punctual speculation.

Was erstwhile tv prima Phillip Schofield astir to make a sensational comeback?

The dinner, which took spot adjacent to nan fallen star's West London home, could beryllium interpreted successful galore ways: arsenic Dec is besides adjacent friends pinch Holly Willoughby, immoderate wondered if he was acting arsenic a go-between for nan erstwhile champion friends, aliases whether nan repast was portion of a cleverly choreographed rehabilitation scheme to bring Schofield backmost to our screens, possibly to ITV, pinch everyone agreeing to forgive and forget?

Absolutely not, I'm told.

This play marks a twelvemonth since Schofield's epic tumble from grace, when, aft years of lying astir his semipermanent romance pinch a overmuch younger This Morning colleague, he decided to show nan truth successful a jaw-dropping mea culpa to nan Mail, successful which he apologised for lying to this newspaper — to maine — and besides his bosses and viewers.

The guidance to this gushing outpouring of regret was not what he expected. He was instantly dumped by YMU, nan fearsome talent agency that had represented him for much than 25 years, and forced to resign from ITV.

But, arsenic insiders show me, nan past 12 months person done thing to dampen Schofield's self-belief. He remains furious and still sees himself arsenic nan unfortunate of nan saga.

There person been rumours circulating that Schofield was to return ineligible action against ITV, wherever he besides hosted quiz show The Cube and nan now defunct British Soap Awards. His lawyer, Jonathan Coad, denies this, however.

Yet chaotic whispers proceed that he will return to ITV, his location for almost 30 years, wherever he made his sanction arsenic nan king of daytime TV, alongside Holly Willoughby connected nan This Morning sofa.

So far, each executive I person mentioned this to has either looked astatine maine arsenic if I'm mad, aliases instantly explained what absolute delirium it is.

'We don't want him, why would we want him back?' asked 1 elder personnel of unit astatine nan network. 'The spot is overmuch nicer without him.'

But possibly nan much astonishing logic location won't beryllium a return is, I'm told, owed to his condemnation that he was wronged by ITV, wherever he believes he was a 'loyal servant' of nan channel.

'Phillip firmly believes that he has been mistreated by ITV. He thinks he was thrown nether nan bus. From immoderate of what he says, he feels he is nan victim,' a root told me.

As everyone knows, however, location is simply a existent unfortunate successful nan story: nan star-struck young man, who first met Schofield erstwhile he was conscionable 15, during a sojourn to his theatre schoolhouse successful nan North West of England. A twelvemonth on, life for him has been acold from rosy.

He is still struggling to travel to position pinch nan narration and really infamous it became — peculiarly crossed societal media. After leaving ITV pinch a salary out, insiders opportunity he went abroad. There was a stint astatine different terrestrial broadcaster earlier life successful nan manufacture became excessively overmuch and he near to activity successful a pub.

Although nan property had agreed not to people his name, it became an unfastened secret, making his occupation down nan barroom impossible. Today, isolated from having nan services of a lawyer astatine London-based patient Mishcon de Reya, he has been trim adrift by nan personage world he loved truthful much.

'He had truthful galore friends astatine ITV, he was highly celebrated and had hoped to build a profession there. It's specified a shame,' says a source.

Yet, according to nan source, Schofield 'thinks he was nan autumn guy. He can't activity retired why he was nan 1 who had to spell from This Morning past May'. The BBC, I'm told, 'won't touch him' and neither will different networks. Once said to beryllium worthy £8 million, his life coming couldn't beryllium much different.

Gone are nan galore manufacture friends who had erstwhile truthful enjoyed being successful his orbit. Gone, too, are nan glitzy parties — who doesn't retrieve Phil and Holly going consecutive to nan This Morning studios, somewhat dishevelled and still successful their evening finery, aft winning a National Television Award successful 2016?

Instead, location are canine walks, evenings successful beforehand of nan TV pinch his daughters Molly and Ruby and visits to Cornwall to spot his aged mother, Pat. He's been very unfastened astir nan truth that he's been undergoing therapy. A sojourn to his section pub is seen arsenic a 'treat' these days.

As for Phil and Holly, who had been adjacent friends since nan mid-Noughties erstwhile they began hosting Dancing On Ice, it seems, arsenic pinch ITV location is nary measurement back.

Which takes maine backmost to that moment, a twelvemonth ago, and nan telephone call, connected a very mean Friday afternoon, that I will ne'er forget.

I didn't recognise nan number: it was Paul Worsley, nan leader of YMU talent agency, who'd represented Schofield from nan beginning.

'In half an hr you are going to get a scoop,' Worsley told me. 'But earlier that I want you to cognize that yesterday we parted institution pinch Phillip.'

I was stunned. What had happened? For months, I had been penning astir nan progressively fractious narration betwixt Holly and Phil and 2 weeks earlier he'd been ousted from This Morning, pinch ITV bosses taking her broadside complete nan autumn out.

Worsley refused to explicate immoderate further, different than that nan connection would travel via Schofield's lawyer, Jonathan Coad. Then, ping, successful my inbox was nan astir bonzer email I will ever person — a afloat confession which explained really he had engaged successful an matter pinch a young man who was by this clip successful his 20s — much than 30 years younger than him. Schofield described nan romance, which took spot down his woman Stephanie Lowe's back, arsenic 'unwise but not illegal'.

It was nan culmintion of a bid of events which he had been praying would ne'er happen.

For respective years he had been hiding his narration pinch nan young man. Weeks earlier, I had written a communicative successful nan Mail connected Sunday astir nan man being moved disconnected nan show pursuing a autumn retired pinch Schofield.

All hellhole collapsed loose. Schofield instructed his lawyers to usage nan property regulator IPSO to protect him. However, nan younger man refused to spell on pinch it immoderate longer, leaving Schofield successful a precarious position. A gathering was arranged, wherever he decided he'd confess each and make a caller start.

A communal non-disclosure agreement, alongside a six fig sum of money, was arranged pinch nan young man. Yet nary magnitude of money could compensate for nan full devastation nan matter wreaked connected his life.

'It collapsed his bosom that he had to time off it each behind. He is slow coming to position pinch what happened, but it will return immoderate time,' an ITV insider says. 'Those astir him are furious pinch what was allowed to hap to him.

'He mislaid beautiful overmuch everything arsenic a consequence of being adjacent to Phil. If anyone should beryllium claiming unfortunate status, it's him.'