Phillip Schofield

Maybe some disappointed ladies out there?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51414010

Freedom wrote:Maybe some disappointed ladies out there?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51414010

I heard a paper was about to expose him...

deceiving your wife of 27 years is nothing to be proud of. Surely he is bisexual rather than gay? After all he has two adult daughters by his wife.

Antonia wrote:

Freedom wrote:Maybe some disappointed ladies out there?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51414010

I heard a paper was about to expose him...

deceiving your wife of 27 years is nothing to be proud of. Surely he is bisexual rather than gay? After all he has two adult daughters by his wife.

These were my immediate thoughts when I heard it yesterday.So what in reality.

Yes, it's hardly anything scandalous today, is it? 

I did wonder why he felt the need to tell everyone so publicly.

Freedom wrote:Yes, it's hardly anything scandalous today, is it? 

I did wonder why he felt the need to tell everyone so publicly.

I suspect he is worried there will be some kind of 'leak' and/or he has met a man he wants to have a serious relationship with. I can't really think of any other reason for this disclosure right now. It appears that colleagues suspected for years. His wife appears to have known for some time, reading between the lines. He's paving the way for a life of being openly gay I would presume, which will mean at some stage or another not having to sneak around with a male lover or lovers. I would suggest it is unlikely that he has never acted on his sexuality, especially given that he is 'coming out' publicly now.

I would imagine it is also to spare his family from the possible humiliation and scandal of a media 'outing'. All in all, I would say this is a pretty clever move.  If one is to speculate that he might already be in a relationship with a man (or is planning on being)  then this avoids a media witch-hunt which is a public embarrassment for him and his family and risks ruining his career to boot.

This has been carefully thought through over a long period of time I would say. Holly kept her cool remarkably, was as cool as a cucumber, and even asked disingenuously Imo - but charmingly, as always - about future relationships. That was a nice touch which Philip was able to bat away confidently.

Well played, Imo.

ETA: How the media protects its own. Contrast this with other 'outings' in the media where unfortunate individuals are stalked, mobbed and publicly humiliated.

Antonia wrote:

Freedom wrote:Maybe some disappointed ladies out there?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51414010

I heard a paper was about to expose him...


deceiving your wife of 27 years is nothing to be proud of. Surely he is bisexual rather than gay? After all he has two adult daughters by his wife.

Sorry I only just read this. Yes, I would say this is almost definitely the case. He was forced to take action ahead of media exposure. It is also possible there is a third party in the wings, or someone or several people with an axe to grind and the whole thing was a ticking time-bomb.

He is more likely to have been deceiving himself, imo.

ETA: I do like his mum's response though:

"She said: 'Oh ok, well I don’t care'."

It reminds me of my own mother's response when I was asked to tell her one of her grandchildren was gay:

"Oh, so what?"

That's great to hear about your mother, poster. Even today some children are disowned for that reason.

Freedom wrote:That's great to hear about your mother, poster. Even today some children are disowned for that reason.

Yes, it's still an uphill battle I think for quite a few people despite dramatic cultural changes over the past few decades.

I notice in the news today that there are stories about how Schofield contemplated suicide over the whole situation. I can totally believe that. And being such a public figure - who looked like the perfect family man - would only have exacerbated an already very delicate situation.

But the reality for other people who have been 'outed' in the media over revelations about their private lives (which are really nothing to do with the media or general public) is that the resulting embarrassment and scandal places what should have been private into the public arena. In other words, what should have been private becomes salacious 'entertainment' to be endlessly discussed by the masses.

This was a major damage-limitation exercise, imo, and while I have empathy for all involved I think that it serves as a stark reminder that, without Schofield's very high level contacts in the media, the press coverage of this might have been very, very different.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/entertainment/phillip-schofield-admits-he-knew-he-was-gay-when-he-got-married-980598.html

I've given this its own topic as it's attracting some interest.

If Mrs Schofield did something bad to her husband, I wuldn't blame her and I would set up a gofundme page to help with her defence.

He now says he knew he was gay when he married her.

But why marry her?

if he wanted to hide the fact that he was gay why not date a serious of models, actresses in soaps etc - he would meet all these 'celebrities' through his work. He could get a reputation as a playboy if he was never seen with the same blonde twice!

So did he father the two children to further hide the truth? Excuse my ignorance but how can a genuinely gay man father children the natural way?

he could just have issued a statement and then said no further comment would be made. That would have been dignified. He seems to be chosing to fuel the fire. Now his wife must suffer more with all the extra stuff he is spouting.

It looks as if the floodgates will be opening soon with the tabloids.

https://www.politicalite.com/entertainment/revealed-phillip-schofield-came-out-after-affair-with-runner-was-about-to-be-exposed/

Antonia wrote:If Mrs Schofield did something bad to her husband, I wuldn't blame her and I would set up a gofundme page to help with her defence.

He now says he knew he was gay when he married her.

But why marry her?

if he wanted to hide the fact that he was gay why not date a serious of models, actresses in soaps etc - he would meet all these 'celebrities' through his work.  He could get a reputation as a playboy if he was never seen with the same blonde twice!

So did he father the two children to further hide the truth? Excuse my ignorance but how can a genuinely gay man father children the natural way?

he could just have issued a statement and then said no further comment would be made. That would have been dignified. He seems to be chosing to fuel the fire. Now his wife must suffer more with all the extra stuff he is spouting.

I agree it's a pretty raw deal for the wife in many ways. But the fact is people marry for all sorts of reasons and he may genuinely have been 'in love' with her and possibly confused or in denial about his sexuality. Or perhaps bisexual?

He could also have pulled the plug on the marriage before getting involved with men, which would have been much fairer on the wife. But getting out of a marriage for whatever reason is extremely complex. Being married with children is a way of life and, even today, is considered to be a respectable and valued way of life. Divorce is messy, complicated and often leaves a trail of destruction in its wake. There are reputations to consider, finances to consider, careers, children (whether grown up or not) and wider family to mention just a few.

Also,  it is only in the past 10 years or so that being openly homosexual is considered to be acceptable. When Schofield married, the situation was very, very different.  I'm not making excuses for him, by the way, I'm simply trying to put the affair (no pun intended) in context. It is possible that his wife suspected for some time he was gay - possibly even from the very beginning as well. But maybe she too fell in love with him and just hoped that they could make things work.

Maybe he was very motivated by being a family man and having children and at the time he married the openly gay scene was not compatible with that. Things have changed dramatically in the past decade.

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned Caroline Flack - another very high profile figure in the media most recently associated with 'Love Island', whose own private life appears to have been quite complex and who tragically acted on her suicidal feelings after a high profile domestic violence incident became public and she received the news that the case was going to go ahead. She committed suicide on the very day that she heard the news that the prosecution case was going ahead.

IMO, the timing of the Caroline Flack suicide and the Philip Schofield public 'coming out' are not a coincidence.  Both are (were in Caroline's case, sadly) incredibly high profile media figures being seen by millions of viewers night after night, or day after day even,  on television. Both were in positions where they were in jobs which were at the very heart of human relationships. Yet both, it would seem, had complicated private lives, albeit for different reasons.

IMO, it is utterly tragic that Caroline took her own life and it could and should have been avoided - IMO only of course. She must have been dealing with her own demons and the FACT that the boyfriend stands by her says a lot. There must be so many people wringing their hands over this but I do believe that with good support and appropriate help this was indeed avoidable. She shouldn't have been left alone at all and should probably have been under 24 hour watch at that particular time in her life.

IMO in this country we are still very poor at dealing effectively with mental health issues and there is not nearly enough appropriate help and care at the time that it is needed. After the event is too late in a crisis situation and really a person who is feeling suicidal is in need of acute emergency care.

It is on record that an ambulance was called the previous day to Caroline's home which, imo, says it all. But really paramedics cannot be expected to be mental health care experts and I find it astonishing that Caroline was not under the care of mental health care professionals who were able to assess her properly and take appropriate action to avoid the very worst outcome. Given the nature of her job and then what happened in her personal life I would have thought she was 'at risk'.

We've seen from our television screens how Caroline's suicide affected those in the media, including Schofield et al, and I am sure there are those thinking it could have happened to them. Like I've said, I think Schofield acted in a very timely fashion, albeit probably leaving it far longer than was wise.

I also have a problem with the media reporting of the circumstances surrounding Caroline's court case. Surely any information put into the public domain about what police saw etc should be withheld as it could be prejudicial to the court case? Even what her boyfriend said shouldn't have been reported, imo, because it could have prejudiced the case.

I presume there were aspects of Caroline's private life that would have come out that she was very scared about but again I think with appropriate help and support this could be dealt with.

Some people have jumped onto the 'domestic violence' bandwagon but I think this misses the point. This is not a classic domestic violence situation in my opinion. The ex-boyfriend who weighed in with his comments should also have kept his mouth shut and again I do not think what he said should have been reported as it could have prejudiced the case.

All in my opinion as always.

I posted about Caroline Flack on the celebrity deaths topic.

Freedom wrote:I posted about Caroline Flack on the celebrity deaths topic.

On yes - just seen that! Please move if necessary.