PHILLIP Schofield has revealed that coming out as gay caused him more “anguish than joy”.

The telly veteran, 62, opens up on his bombshell exit from ITV ahead of being sent to a desert island for Channel 5 documentary Cast Away.

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Phillip, 62, was joined by his family at his London home, with wife Stephanie Lowe and their daughters Molly, 31, and Ruby, 28.

His family were seen talking for the first time about the moment he came out as gay in February 2020, as well as the scandal surrounding his exit from This Morning last May.

Talking about coming out, Phillip said: “For me, doing it later in life, at the moment, it’s just given me more anguish than joy.

“Because I’m fully aware of the damage that it leaves.

“I still have the love of my family. Never wavered.”

His wife defended her husband and talks about the abuse he has received over the past 18 months — but admitted he could be in for more flak with the new show.

Stephanie said: “What people don’t realise is that they batter you, but there are other people affected.

“There’s no question, by doing this, you’re popping your head back up above the parapet for the very few horrid people that there are out there.”

When my dad came out, it was very hard for me. It was very hard for the entire family, mainly my mum of course

Phillip’s Daughter Molly

Meanwhile, daughter Molly told of how “proud” she is of her “amazing” father.

She says: “Weirdly, everything that’s happened recently has made us closer. We’ve seen him in his lowest times. But I’ve been so proud of him. So proud of him.

“As a daughter, to see the love that people have for him. But when it’s taken away, it’s heartbreaking.

“On a desert island, you can’t fake it. This is the real you.

“So you can’t hide anything. And I really hope that people see him how we see him. Because he is just amazing.”

However she fears that his lack of practical skills may be a problem.

She says: “The DIY I’m really nervous about, because he can’t. He can’t do it. He can do a lot of things, but he can’t do DIY.”

Molly also recalls the moment her dad came out live on This Morning, with Holly by his side.

She says: “When my dad came out, it was very hard for me. It was very hard for the entire family, mainly my mum of course.

“Everything was turned upside-down, but we talked through it and over time it’s got easier. My mum and my sister, we’re all the same.

“We’ll always continue to support him, no matter what. I never thought it would have gone the way it has. But to have my parents still best friends is just . . . I’m the luckiest person ever.”

Phillip also discussed how he was forced to leave This Morning after 22 years following a fling with a much younger runner — and hinted at a lack of support from his long-time friend and co-host Holly, 43.

In 2020, Phillip said he “owed it to the viewers” to come out on the programme in a special interview with Holly as they are “family”.

Phillip broke the news on his personal Instagram account with an emotional statement back in February.

He then opened up about his sexuality during an incredibly moving interview on This Morning just moments later.

In the aftermath, Phillip said many people reached out to support him – but the lockdown in March meant he had to deal with it solo.

However, he said the mornings with Holly before presenting the show helped him through.

At the time, Phillip said: “You know, I was happy to receive the hugs, people saying “Oh my God, you’re so brave, oh, are you okay, let’s have dinner” and then nothing – I was stuck inside.

“And thank God I had the mornings with Holly. And so every day we’d sit in the make-up room, just the two of us doing our own make-up and talking throughout the whole of lockdown, which is the most extraordinary, beautiful experience to look back on.

“I think the one thing I’ll take away from all of this is the mornings that we had, with Holly and I looking a bit dazed trying to make a TV programme with hardly any people and wondering what the hell was happening next.”

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Prince Harry unexpectedly showed up on Jimmy Fallon’s US talk show – and his appearance left him screaming and swearing.

Harry was invited to walk through a “haunted” maze with the host, and the result was broadcast on Thursday night’s episode of The Tonight Show (26 September).

Based on Fallon’s nightmares, the maze is a New York-based attraction set to feature several rooms filled with actors jumping out at attendees.

These actors brought Halloween to life for the pair a month before it opens to the public.

The Tonight Show’s YouTube page said: “Brace yourself for 10 spine-chilling rooms that bring Jimmy’s worst nightmares to life with sinister characters and scares around every corner. Enter if you dare!”

At one stage in the clip, Harry questioned if one of the monsters was a panda before an actor suddenly jumped out in front of the Duke of Sussex, which prompted him to scream and swear before erupting into nervous laughter.

“You’re afraid of pandas,” Fallon said as Harry protested: “No, I’m not!”

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At another point, a werewolf jumped out in front of the pair, and without thinking, Harry put his hand on Fallon’s stomach in fear. Fallon admitted: “That actually got me!”

One moment saw the actors temporarily break their characters to express shock that they had just scared a member of the royal family.

The scares did not end when the duo posed for a picture after they had walked through the maze, with yet another actor screaming behind them for one last fright.

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The duke previously appeared on the Tonight Show to promote his bombshell 2023 memoir, Spare, which is coincidentally being released in paperback for the first time next month.

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During the appearance, Harry, who has had an interesting few years since stepping down as a working member of the royal family in 2020, admitted that he feels “the presence of his mum” now more than ever.

“I’ve said quite a lot recently in different interviews that I’ve really felt the presence of my mum, especially in the last couple of years,” he said.

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“I detail in the book my brother and I talking at her grave and how he felt as though she had been with him for a long period of time and helped set him up with life and that he felt she was now moving over to me.”

The video arrived amid a solo visit to New York that has seen Harry, who recently turned 40, promote several philanthropic causes close to his heart.

Harry’s packed schedule of engagements in the Big Apple began with a dinner hosted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Sunday (22 September), which highlighted the impact of violence on children’s mental health.

He also appeared at The Diana Awards on Monday (23 September), set up in memory of the late princess, which honours young people making a significant difference in the lives of others.

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“I’ve said it years ago, and I’ll say it again – the younger generation are, not putting too much pressure on you guys, you are what give me hope,” Harry said. “The courage that you have gives me hope, because every single one of us need courage in order to really move the dial and create positive change in today’s world, probably more so now than ever.”

He added, “I know that my mum would be incredibly proud of you guys – not just you, but all of the award winners.”

Jimmy Fallon’s Tonightmares is available to visit in New York until 31 October.

JEREMY Clarkson is a great polar explorer like Captain Scott, a top historian claims.

Dr Linda Parker hailed his race to the North Pole on Top Gear in 2007 as a “watershed moment”.

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Clarkson, 64, is now seen on his Diddly Squat Farm for Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm.

But 17 years ago he and co-host James May raced 450 miles across frozen Canadian seas in a modified pick-up truck for a BBC Top Gear special.

Dr Parker, a polar expert, said they “pushed the boundaries of what’s possible”.

Clarkson’s “derring-do” was, she said, reminiscent of pioneers like Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton.

She wrote in a magazine article: “The Top Gear expedition was a watershed moment in the development of polar research and exploration.

“Light-hearted and comedic as it was, Clarkson and May’s attempt was in many ways in the same tradition of the early pioneers.”

The pair beat their colleague Richard Hammond, who was on a traditional dog sled, to the magnetic North Pole.

Dr Parker said Scott would have loved “navigational aids and motorised vehicles” to reach the South Pole in 1912, adding: “Success meant everything.”