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Phillip Schofield forced to change his appearance after landing first TV gig

It's his trademark look

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Phillip Schofield has revealed bosses made him dye his hair after he landed his first job at ITV.

The presenter, who is known for his trademark silver fox image, said he first went grey at the age of 16 and began dying his hair dark when he moved to New Zealand three years later.

However, after landing his first TV job, Phil said he finally had the confidence to stop hiding his silver locks… only to be told to cover it up by TV bosses.

Read more: Holly and Phil announce This Morning will be honoured with special award

During an appearance on Love Island star Kem Cetinay’s YouTube hairdressing series Kem Cuts, Phil made the revelation.

He said: “Well the thing is 16 and I was getting grey hairs – my mum went grey when she was 16.

“For the first time at 19 – and it was covered up for absolutely ages – and I’m not sure I’ve said this out loud before so you have a bit of an exclusive here.”

Phillip Schofield on Kem Cetinay's show
Phil said he started getting grey hair when he was 16 (Credit: YouTube)

Phil, 56, continued: “I just signed a contract for ITV and I decided to let my hair go and my office got a phone call from the Head of ITV saying, ‘Can you please tell him to put it back? We didn’t hire a grey guy.’

“And someone else said ‘he looks like a badger’ so I went back into the grey closet.”

Meanwhile during the chat, Phil revealed he once dyed his hair electric blue!

He told Kem: “When I lived in New Zealand, I had electric blue hair, I was in my early 20s. Then it was brown with a red flash across it.

Who is THAT guy!!!! 😂😂 (his hair wasn’t brown even then!!)

A post shared by Phillip Schofield (@schofe) on

“When I first starting thinking about [dying my hair], it was the 70s and that was [all about] big hair.”

Phil also opened up about working alongside Holly Willoughby on This Morning.

Describing his daily routine before hosting the daytime show, Phil explained: “I have three slices of cold white, very well done toast. And it has to be cold. I don’t like the butter melting into it.”

Holly and Phil on TM
Phil said toast and a cuppa gets him ready to host This Morning (Credit: ITV)

Read more: Phillip Schofield reacts to Holly Willoughby co-hosting I’m A Celebrity

“My tea has gotta be very strong, hardly any milk, and one and a half sugars. If you put too much milk in my tea I can’t drink it, because I’ll kick off,” he joked.

“You can hear me screaming sometimes, ‘too much milk!'”

Watch Kem’s full YouTube chat with Phillip here.

Phil and Holly announced on Wednesday that the show will receive a special BAFTA award next month to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

The duo said they feel “very honoured” to be receiving the prestigious award.

Do you like Phil’s silver hair? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!


Rebecca Carter
Associate Editor (News)

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