ITV bosses are furious at Phillip Schofield’s claim that he would have been treated differently if he had had an affair with a woman rather than a man.

The disgraced presenter who quit the channel after lying about his relationship with a much younger This Morning colleague said on his new reality series that he would have got a ‘pat on the back’ it wasn’t a homosexual relationship.

However, ITV insiders say is ‘totally untrue’ to suggest he would have been treated differently because it was a gay romance.

Meanwhile, Phillip also took aim at the ‘three s***s of showbiz’ who betrayed him as he ranted about his downfall.

In his much-criticised television comeback on Channel 5 programme Cast Away, Schofield refers to himself as the ‘shamed, disgraced Philip Schofield, who had an affair’.

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ITV bosses are furious at Phillip Schofield ‘s claim that he would have been treated differently if he had had an affair with a woman rather than a man [Phillip pictured on episode 2]

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The disgraced presenter who quit the channel after lying about his relationship with a much younger This Morning colleague said on his new reality series that he would have got a ‘pat on the back’ it wasn’t a homosexual relationship

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Meanwhile, Phillip also took aim at the ‘three s***s of showbiz’ who betrayed him as he ranted about his downfall [pictured with former co-star Holly Willoughby]

The 62-year-old said: ‘Strangely, I think another TV presenter or two might have done exactly the same thing. Difference is heterosexual. It’s not an unusual thing in the gay world for there to be a difference in age groups.’

‘That’s not that unusual in the straight world, but if that had been the case with me and it had been a woman. Pat on the back. Well done, mate.’

Schofield said that he ‘has regrets’ and acknowledges he ‘got something wrong’ and ‘hurt the people’ around him.

‘I don’t know what price you’re supposed to pay and whether the price you’re paying is necessarily proportionate,’ he adds.

Hitting back, a source at the channel said: ‘It’s a stupid thing for Phil to say, and it is just not true. Phil lied to his colleagues, his bosses and his friends about it, it wouldn’t have mattered if it was a woman or a man.’

They add that Schofield is unlikely to work with the channel again despite his hints that he had been approached to appear on their reality show, I’m A Celeb. One source said: ‘He lied to us, it would be really, really difficult.’

In the programme, which airs from Monday, Schofield takes aim at a trio of his former ITV colleagues, saying: ‘I think there are only three s**ts.’

He pointed out that one was a ‘coward who never stepped up in queue gate,’ while another ‘is a coward because they never stepped up when I was being battered by that one journalist who thought I’d got them fired.’

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Phillip cheated on wife of over 20 years Stephanie Lowe with a much younger man

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The disgraced presenter who quit the channel after lying about his relationship with a much younger This Morning colleague said on his new reality series that he would have got a ‘pat on the back’ it wasn’t a homosexual relationship

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However, ITV insiders say is ‘totally untrue’ to suggest he would have been treated differently because it was a gay romance

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‘That’s not that unusual in the straight world, but if that had been the case with me and it had been a woman. Pat on the back. Well done, mate’

The third, Schofield says ‘is just brand orientated. Not what you expect, not what you think you’re going to get.’

Continuing to take aim at those who he believes wrong him, Phillip added of his formerly long-standing TV career: ‘They know how important that was to me.

‘They know when you throw someone under a bus, you’ve got to have a really bloody good reason to do it. Brand, ambition is not good enough’, reports The Sun.

He went on: ‘People can be fake. They can be so fake with you when it’s all going well, and suddenly utter, utter betrayal.

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In the programme, which airs from Monday, Schofield takes aim at a trio of his former ITV colleagues, saying: ‘I think there are only three s**ts’

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He pointed out that one was a ‘coward who never stepped up in queue gate,’ while another ‘is a coward because they never stepped up when I was being battered by that one journalist who thought I’d got them fired’

‘There are a lot of amazing people in morning television.’

He also insisted that he has now quit television and doesn’t want to make a return despite filming the three-part show for Channel 5 which sees him having to survive alone in Madagascar.

While Phillip failed to disclose which ITV figures he was referring to, he did take the opportunity to take a brutal swipe at his ex-colleagues.

Despite mentioning ITV Co-stars Ant, 48, and Dec, 49, as well as Joanna Lumley, 78, his former pal Holly Willoughby isn’t mentioned at all throughout the 45-minute episode.

In one outburst which will leave viewers wondering whether it is aimed at her, Schofield says: ‘When you throw someone under a bus, you’ve got to have a really bloody good reason to do it.

‘I got into telly because I love the nuts and bolts of telly, I never wanted to be famous. I’m not fussed about that.

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While Phillip failed to disclose which ITV figures he was referring to, he did take the opportunity to take a brutal swipe at his ex-colleagues.

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Despite mentioning ITV Co-stars Ant, 48, and Dec, 49, as well as Joanna Lumley , 78, Holly Willoughby (pictured in 2023) isn’t mentioned at all throughout the 45-minute episode

ITV’s fury comes as Schofield also hints that he was fired from the network when in fact the first its chiefs learned of his departure was in statement to the Mail where he admitted the affair and said he left with immediate effect.

Sources at the broadcaster also say that he chose to step back from presenting This Morning a fortnight before following a fall out with his former co-star Holly Willoughby.

Meanwhile during the programme, Phillip and his family appeared to mock Holly’s famous ‘are you ok?’ clip as he made his return to TV.

Phillip was ousted from This Morning in May last year, after he admitted to lying about his relationship with a much younger male colleague.

Holly distanced herself from her former best friend and during a ‘highly strategised’ return to the This Morning sofa in June 2023, she told viewers she had been left ‘shaken, let down and worried.’

When she returned, she began by saying: ‘Hello, Firstly, are you okay? I hope so. It feels very strange sat here without Phil.’

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Meanwhile during the programme, Phillip and his family appeared to mock Holly’s famous ‘are you ok?’ clip as he made his return to TV [Holly pictured in June 2023]

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In a clip obtained by The Sun , he gives out food to his wife Stephanie and their daughters Molly, 31, and Ruby, 28, and laughs: ‘If you’re ok, then we’re ok, and I’m ok…are you ok?’

Appearing to reference the now-famous speech on Cast Away, Phillip is seen having a BBQ with his family before heading off to the island.

In a clip obtained by The Sun, he gives out food to his wife Stephanie and their daughters Molly,  31, and Ruby, 28, and laughs: ‘If you’re ok, then we’re ok, and I’m ok…are you ok?’

No mention of Holly is made in the clip.

The Channel 5 show also took a dark turn when Phillip told how he had ‘everything in place’ for a suicide attempt, but decided against it when his eldest daughter Molly persuaded him not to.

Speaking on the first episode of the three-part series which airs on Monday, the former This Morning host said: ‘In the last eighteen months, it got as dark as it is possible to get.

‘A year ago I got so, so close. I had everything in place, everything was set up and everything was ready and it was Molly that was looking after me.’

He explained: ‘Molly and Ruby both looking after me at the time, and Molly said: ‘Do you imagine what this would do to us if you actually managed to pull this off? Can you imagine what would happen and can you imagine what it would do to me if you did this on my watch?’

‘That was just enough, just enough to take a step back from the edge. I could have been hospitalised, I just raced to the family home and shut the gates and I was in there.’

He later pays tribute to his wife Stephanie Lowe, Molly, 31, and his youngest daughter Ruby, 28, saying: ‘Without them, I wouldn’t be here.’

The Channel 5 show also took a dark turn when Phillip told how he had ‘everything in place’ for a suicide attempt, but decided against it when his eldest daughter Molly persuaded him not to

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Phillip recalled how a conversation with his daughters Molly, 31, and Ruby, 28, stopped him from going ahead with it (pictured with wife Stephanie Lowe, Molly and Ruby in 2018)

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He added: ‘That was just enough, just enough to take a step back from the edge. I could have been hospitalised, I just raced to the family home and shut the gates and I was in there’

The disgraced presenter revealed this week he was taking part in his own survival show just 16 months on from leaving This Morning after admitting to having an ‘unwise but not illegal’ fling with a junior male colleague.

Schofield is said to have turned down a selection of big money TV offers before choosing to sign up for Cast Away – which he believes will allow him to share his story in an ‘unedited and honest’ way.

Holly left This Morning in October 23 after presenting the show alongside Schofield for 14 years.

Sources at the time said she quit because the show ‘wasn’t the same’ after her co-host left but was finally ‘tipped over the edge’ by an alleged ‘kidnap and murder plot’, insiders have claimed.