Phillip Schofield’s comeback couldn’t have gone worse

Phillip Schofield’s TV return has been a ratings flop with hundreds of thousands of viewers switching off as Cast Away continued.

The Channel 5 show was billed as Schofield’s big comeback after he resigned from This Morning and other ITV projects In 2023 after he admitted to lying about an affair with a younger colleague.

However, since it started airing on Monday night, it has been torn apart by critics who argued that Schofield, 62, failed to show any remorse and instead was more concerned about firing shots at ITV.

Schofield’s re-entry into the TV industry has also failed to set viewers alight, with Cast Away losing a staggering third of its audience between the first and third episode.

The final night drew in the three-parter’s lowest ratings of 988,000 viewers, a drop from 1.1million the previous night and shy of the 1.1m benchmark for the slot, according to Broadcast.

Cast Away’s first episode drew the largest audience of 1.4m, meaning that each episode had fewer viewers than the last.

Last night’s final instalment of Cast Away saw Schofield strip and go skinny dipping after his tent caught fire when he tried to scare off a ‘big cat’ he thought he heard prowling near his camp on an island in Madagascar.

The bewildering decision baffled viewers on X with @seanmmontague writing: ‘I actually cannot take this seriously… it’s just bad… bad, bad.’

Others labeled the show ‘contrived’ and ‘cringe,’ with @DannyDenay bluntly commenting: ‘What a f***ing moron, this is cringe af.’

But not all viewers were opposed to Schofield’s antics. Some fans praised the show for its entertainment value, with @justjamess87 writing: ‘Absolutely loving the sarcasm on Phillip Schofield Cast Away. Once again great TV… let’s hope you get back on tele soon.’

Throughout Cast Away, Schofield addressed the fallout from the This Morning scandal and revealed many of his famous friends abandoned him after the affair became public.

‘People who I thought were my friends just went. And it’s like, ‘What the hell,’” he said.

He also seemingly took aim at former friend and This Morning co-star Holly Willoughby, 43, moments into the first episode.

After Willoughby returned to This Morning without Schofield, she addressed the viewers, asking: ‘Are you ok?’

While sitting with his family – wife Stephanie Lowe and their two daughters Molly and Ruby – Phil quite clearly mocks Holly, saying: ‘If you’re ok then we’re ok and I’m ok. Are you ok?’

Schofield has not yet addressed the backlash to his appearance on Cast Away nor does he have any further TV projects in the pipeline.

But at the end of the programme he aid he was undecided on whether he would return to presenting.

Beginning to tear up, Schofield said: ‘Now I’m not saying I’m done but you know, never in a million years will I go back to daytime telly. I’ve lived a hundred TV lives.’