Caroline Flack’s mum tells Phillip Schofield not to do ‘anything silly’
Phillip Schofield said the media fallout after the affair came to light had been “relentless”, which Caroline Flack’s mum said was “exactly” how her daughter had felt. (BBC/Getty)
The mum of late Love Island star Caroline Flack sent an heartfelt plea to Phillip Schofield to not do “anything silly” amid the backlash for his affair with a younger male colleague.
Schofield was once the darling of British morning television until he shockingly quit ITV’s This Morning, following rumours he and co-host Holly Willoughby were no longer speaking.
Then, just a couple of days later on 26 May, it was revealed that Schofield had conducted a relationship with a junior member of This Morning staff who he met when the staffer was a teen.
Schofield described how he “lost everything” when the affair came to light, and he told the BBC that the scandal had a “catastrophic effect” on his mind which left him with suicidal thoughts.
During the interview, Phillip Schofield stated he “understood how” Caroline Flack, who died in February 2020 by suicide after learning she would be prosecuted for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend, “felt”.
Speaking to BBC’s Newsnight, Flack’s mum, Christine, said Schofield and his former lover were going through an “awful time” and urged them not to do “anything silly”.
“He knew Caroline and I must say, when she died he was very upset,” she said.
She continued: “And I think he’s now realising even more what she went through. Being in the media he knew what she was going through.
“But until it happens to you, you feel sad but you don’t understand.
“He’s trying to put things straight, but I don’t think it will end there.
“I hope he’s done the right thing. I hope he feels better. I hope people now will let it settle.
“He’s lost his job. He’s lost his world. I think that’s enough. I think that’s enough for anybody.”
Phillip Schofield told the BBC that the media fallout after the affair came to light had been “relentless”, which Christine said was “exactly” how her daughter had felt.
“Every day she would try to be a bit stronger, which I should imagine Phillip is,” she said.
“But you get more and more thrown at you. It’s not only him, it is his daughters. Luckily he’s got them there for support.
“But it’s his family. His wife, his mum. Everyone that’s around him. Everybody suffers – but not as much as him.”
Christine also claimed that ITV hadn’t learned any lessons from her daughter’s death, and she alleged that the channel “treats presenters as commodities”.
“I know it’s a lovely job and they earn money, but also the television stations earn money from them,” she said.
She said: “But they’re not commodities, they’re people, and they’re employed. And if my employer didn’t take care of me, there’d be all hell to pay.
“And there’s not. They’re just sidelined, and they’re not protected.
“They could have someone speaking for him really, whether he did right or wrong.”
Suicide is preventable. Readers who are affected by the issues raised in this story are encouraged to contact Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org), or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). Readers in America can contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by texting 988 (988lifeline.org).
