Phillip Schofield confirmed he would not return to This Morning last week (May 20) after 21 years of presenting the show. He said he “agreed” with ITV to exit following reports of a feud with Holly Willoughby. Phil’s brother was also recently sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexual abusing a teenager.
Now, PR and reputations expert Edward Coram James, CEO of GoUp, has explained why he thinks Phil won’t ever tell “his side of the story” following his This Morning exit.
Why Phillip Schofield can’t explain his side of the This Morning exit
Edward speculated that Phillip’s “nice guy” image is preventing him from being able to “punch back” over his This Morning exit. In his statement about leaving, he said he left “to protect the show that I love”. He also shared his “hopes” for a brighter future for the show.
In an earlier statement regarding his “feud” with co-host Holly Willoughby, he called Holly his “rock” but admitted they had both gone through a “difficult past few weeks”. Edward said that both his statements show that Phillip has “very little room to manoeuvre”.
He claimed: “A lifetime of curating a butter-wouldn’t-melt public image gives him very little room to manoeuvre. He’s glued to the position of being nice and staying above the fray. This means that, unless he wants to do a rollover on his public image, he is unable to punch back or give his side of the story.” Edward also said Phil “can’t throw anyone under the bus” in case he threatens his “nice guy” image.
He is simply unable to be seen to throw anyone under the bus, or bang goes his nice guy image.
He further speculated: “Reputationally, he is simply unable to be seen to throw anyone under the bus, or bang goes his nice guy image. This entrenchment was furthered last week, when he called Holly Willoughby his ‘rock’. Many will, of course, question how sincere this statement was. Regardless, he can’t now turn around and say ‘my rock… but…’ without sounding insincere.”
Phil will ‘wait for the storm to pass’
For the future of his career, Edward recommended that Phil simply “waits for the storm to pass”. He added: “He will need to just sit it out, wait for the storm to pass, never really give his version of events and allow others to define one of the defining moments of his life.”
Edward explained that Phil is under pressure to live up to a “high standard” from the public. He concluded: “It’s one of the many problems with building a career on appearing artificially nice. It builds you up to a point where the public applies a much higher standard to you. A standard that is simply not possible to sustain for a lifetime.”
Entertainment Daily has contacted representatives for Phillip Schofield for comment.
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