Childhood & Early Life
Phillip was born Phillip Bryan Schofield, on April 1, 1962, to Brian and Pat Schofield, in Oldham, Lancashire, and was raised in Newquay, Cornwall. He attended 'Trenance Infant School' and then went to 'Newquay Tretherras School.' At 15, Phillip made his debut as a show presenter with a Sunday show on a hospital radio station based in Plymouth, England.
Phillip was 17 when 'BBC' finally replied to the letters he had been writing to them for a long time. He initially worked as a clerk and a tea boy at the 'BBC Radio' at 'Broadcasting House' in London. Phillip became the youngest 'BBC Radio' employee of the time. Two years later, he moved to New Zealand with his family, where he made his professional debut.
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Career
Phillip began his career on February 23, 1982, as the presenter of 'Shazam!,' a New Zealand youth music TV program. He then worked for the Auckland-based station 'Radio Hauraki' for 2 years.
In 1985, Phillip moved back to Britain, and joined 'Children's BBC' as its first in-vision continuity presenter for 'Broom Cupboard.' Two years later, he started presenting the 'BBC1' Saturday morning magazine show 'Going Live!' and continued till April 1993. He presented the 'BBC Radio1' show of the same name and helped the station in promoting its transition from medium wave to full use of FM stereo in 1988.
From 1988 to 1991, Phillip hosted the pop-magazine award show 'Smash Hits Poll Winners Party.' Around the same time, he turned to adult-oriented programs for 'ITV.' Phillip then presented shows such as 'Schofield's Quest,' 'Schofield's TV Gold,' and 'Ten Ball.'
Phillip ventured into theater in 1991, with the lead role of ‘Joseph’ in 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.' He recorded a cover of 'Close Every Door' for the musical, which released as a single through 'Polydor Records' in December 1992.
Moving back to hosting, Phillip presented the 'ITV' game show 'Talking Telephone Numbers' from 1994 to 1997. He co-authored a book that was based on a 1996 show named 'One in a Million,' which he had hosted. Following this, Phillip portrayed the titular role in the musical 'Doctor Dolittle,' staged at the 'Hammersmith Apollo' in London. During 1998–1999, he went on a UK tour with the cast of the play.
In the following decade, Phillip presented a few shows for 'BBC,' such as the 'National Lottery Winning Lines' (for 'BBC One,' between June 2001 and October 2004) and the quiz show 'Test the Nation' (co-hosted from 2002 to 2006). Meanwhile, in 2002, Phillip began co-hosting the 'ITV' daytime show 'This Morning.'
In July 2006, Phillip signed an exclusive 2-year contract with 'ITV,' which ended his association with 'Test the Nation.' John Barrowman briefly replaced Phillip in 'This Morning,' as he went on a break due to his father’s death in May 2008.
Phillip started hosting 'Have I Been Here Before?,' a celebrity reality series about past life regression, in 2005. The following year, he began working as a presenter of 'The British Soap Awards.' Phillip hosted the 'ITV' reality show 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!' and co-hosted the spin-off of the series with Sheree Murphy.
From 2006 until 2014, Phillip co-hosted the 'ITV' reality show 'Dancing on Ice.' He returned to co-presenting the show in 2018, after the show resumed. Phillip hosted the primetime game show 'The Cube' from 2009 to 2015 and simultaneously co-hosted 'A Night of Heroes: The Sun Military Awards' with Amanda Holden until 2014. In February 2010, Phillip launched 'Radio Plymouth' in Devon.
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Phillip co-presented 'All Star Mr & Mrs,' a revival of the 'ITV' game show 'Mr and Mrs,' with Fern Britton, from April 2008 till the show ended in 2010. However, he began hosting the show solo after it resumed in 2012.
Between 2010 and 2015, Phillip hosted (and co-hosted) several 'ITV' shows and events such as 'The Comedy Annual' (till 2011), the coverage of the ‘Royal Wedding,’ and the ‘Queen's Diamond Jubilee.’ In 2011, Phillip received the 'Plymouth University Honorary Doctorate.' He made a cameo appearance in the 2012 British comedy 'Keith Lemon: The Film.'
In 2013, Phillip started writing for the weekend journal of 'Waitrose & Partners,' a chain of British supermarkets. His passion and great taste for wines made him the face of 'Waitrose's range of wine.
In March 2014, Phillip was seen as the narrator of the 'ITV2' show 'Educating Joey Essex.' Toward the end of the year, he presented a fundraising event (live 24-hour TV marathon) for the Christmas charity initiative 'Text Santa.' As part of the event, Phillip was the guest panelist on 'Loose Women.'
In 2016, 'ITV' reserved a primetime slot to showcase Phillip's and his wife's adventurous experience in South Africa. Titled 'Schofield's South African Adventure,' the short clip series was produced exclusively for 'This Morning.' In March 2017, Phillip started hosting 'ITV's new game show, '5 Gold Rings.'
Phillip owns a 'Twitter' page about wine called '@SchofeOnWine.' In late 2016, he launched his next social-media venture, a photo-messaging service on 'Snapchat,' which eventually made him a popular face in a series of memes. The series later inspired a social-media cultural movement, informally known as the “Schofwave.” His ‘Snapchat’ handle, ‘phillipschofe,’ received the best 'Snapchat' story award in 2018.
Phillip reprised his role of ‘Joseph’ in an episode of 'Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway,' aired In March 2018.
Controversies
In 2012, Phillip was the subject of a huge controversy that triggered after he interviewed the then-prime minister, David Cameron, in a November episode of 'This Morning.' He showed David a list of five people who were labeled as pedophiles in the wake of the North Wales child abuse scandal. The list has a few former senior ‘Conservative’ politicians.
Phillip's action on the show was widely criticized and termed "cretinous." 'ITV' director, Peter Fincham, supported the criticism and agreed to cooperate with the investigation spearheaded by the government-regulated ‘Ofcom.'
Phillip later apologized for his actions and justified himself (via fellow presenter Ruth Langsford) by blaming a misinterpreted camera angle. He and 'ITV' paid £125,000 to Lord McAlpine, one of the five on the list, as compensation.
Family & Personal Life
Phillip has been married to his long-term partner, Stephanie Lowe, since 1993. They first met while Stephanie worked as a production assistant for ‘Children's BBC.’ They now live in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, along with their two daughters, Ruby and Molly.
Phillip is one of the sponsors of the 'CHASE' hospice care for children. With the help of rose specialist 'C&K Jones,' he launched a rose variety named after him in June 2006, as a supportive gesture toward 'CHASE.' Phillip is the ambassador of the children's non-profit ‘Kidscape’ and the age-positive charity 'Royal Voluntary Service.' Phillip became an ‘Honorary Patron’ of the 'Blue Lamp Foundation' on October 8, 2012.
Phillip is a friend of Australian actor and singer Jason Donovan, who motivated him to collect 'Bordeaux' wines. Phillip once received two cases of ‘Burgundy’ with a set of tasting notes from English songwriter and record producer trio ‘Stock Aitken Waterman.’ Two years later, he joined the ‘Wine Society.’
Trivia
Phillip holds citizenships of both Britain and New Zealand.
Phillip owns two cellars, with over 7,500 bottles of wine, at his country home.
Phillip had a near-death experience while rehearsing on the sets of 'Talking Telephone Numbers' with Claudia Winkleman. A massive box in the roof of the studio accidentally opened and somehow dropped. Fortunately, it landed on the floor between them.
One of Phillip's dream interviewees is Welsh singer Shirley Bassey, of whom he is a big fan.
