Phillip Schofield and Stephanie Lowe have been married for over 30 years and although the former This Morning star has come out as gay and admitted to an affair, they haven’t divorced
Despite all the difficulties – from her husband coming out as gay on national television to him confessing to a shock affair with a younger colleague – Stephanie Lowe has remained Phillip Schofield ‘s biggest supporter and crucially, remained his wife.
The couple, who have two daughters, Molly, 30, and Ruby, 28, were last pictured together over Phillip’s birthday weekend in April walking their dogs. And they were both still wearing their wedding rings.
According to sources, Stephanie, who first met her husband as an up-and-coming TV presenter almost forty years ago, has “no plans” to divorce her unfaithful husband. After leaving This Morning in disgrace 16 months ago, all eyes are back on the presenter as he makes his TV comeback on Channel 5’s Phillip Schofield: Cast Away airing tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday at 9pm.
The star has spent 10 days on an inhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar, where he is shown fending for himself – while also talking openly about those who he feels ‘threw him under the bus’, appearing to point a finger at ex-co-host and friend Holly Willoughby.
Molly is also his publicist and has been instrumental in his return to our screens – after his incredible fall from grace. Both she and sister Ruby are fiercely protective of their dad. The 62-year-old saw his success and fame crumble away after he admitted to an affair with a much younger male colleague – a colleague who he had helped get a job at ITV working alongside him.
On Phillip Schofield : Cast Away, he says: “Shamed, disgraced Phillip Schofield. Who had an affair. But strangely, I think another TV Presenter or two might have done exactly the same thing. Difference is, heterosexual. It’s not 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.”
Phil and Stephanie had been married for 27 years when they separated in 2020(Image: Getty Images Europe)
The couple remain married and are navigating life as a family of four(Image: Alan Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)
Phil came out as gay in February 2020 but whilst on the desert Island he admits it was not as freeing for him as it can be for some people and came with its own problems. In the opening episode he explains: “I’m very proud of what I did, and I know that coming out for many people is liberating….but for me doing it later in life, at the moment it’s just given me more anguish than joy because I am fully aware of the damage that is leaves.”
Friends of Stephanie claimed she had “no idea” her husband was in a secret relationship with another man before he came out as gay on This Morning in 2020. However, a source claimed there is still “friendship” between the two which is why they have yet to divorce.
“Phil has caused his wife a lot of hurt in recent times,” they said, “but there’s no denying, they still have a great friendship and share a lot of love.” Steph met Phillip early in his career when she was a BBC TV production assistant. They have been married for 30 years.
In February 2020, before the affair scandal broke, Phil took to Instagram with an emotional statement and wrote: “With the strength and support of my wife and my daughters, I have been coming to terms with the fact that I am gay. This is something that has caused many heartbreaking conversations at home.”
He also admitted he knew he was gay when he married Stephanie. He said in an interview at the time: “I must have been gay when I wed but I was so happy I never considered it. I am not saying I didn’t know whatever was there. I thought ‘OK whatever this is, you stay back because I am happy’.”
A friend close to the couple told the Mirror that Stephanie was “absolutely shattered” by the news. The source added: “She and the girls love him very much and will support him as much as they can, but the knowledge they have been living a lie for so long is terribly hurtful. It’s humiliating to think that you’re married to someone who doesn’t love you the way you love them.”
The duo, who married in 1993, separated after 27 years when Phil publicly came out in 2020. However, Phil was seen wearing his wedding ring when he visited his elderly mum Pat, 87, in Cornwall over the summer. The duo have yet to legally end their nuptials and remain married.
According to sources, the husband and wife still have feelings of love which makes getting divorced too painful for them to contemplate. A source told OK! Magazine in November: “Whatever Phillip has done behind Steph’s back, she still loves him.
“Even if the love they shared in the beginning of their marriage is different to what it is now, the love is still very much there.” The source went on to suggest being an official divorce could be too much of an insult to add to Phil’s injury.
They claimed: “Steph is, and always will be, Phillip’s support system. She hasn’t divorced him because she doesn’t want to see him fall any further.” It came after Phil’s “unwise but not illegal” affair ultimately cost him his career – as his managers and ITV cut ties with him due to the explosive scandal. Back in May, he initially quit This Morning.
Inside Phillip Schofield’s marriage with loving wife Stephanie who ‘refuses to divorce him’
Phillip Schofield and Stephanie Lowe have been married for over 30 years and although the former This Morning star has come out as gay and admitted to an affair, they haven’t divorced
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Sanjeeta Bains Features Writer and Nia Dalton Features Writer
Updated 08:35, 01 Oct 2024
Phil Schofield and wife Stephanie have been married for three decades(Image: Daily Mirror)
Despite all the difficulties – from her husband coming out as gay on national television to him confessing to a shock affair with a younger colleague – Stephanie Lowe has remained Phillip Schofield ‘s biggest supporter and crucially, remained his wife.
The couple, who have two daughters, Molly, 30, and Ruby, 28, were last pictured together over Phillip’s birthday weekend in April walking their dogs. And they were both still wearing their wedding rings.
According to sources, Stephanie, who first met her husband as an up-and-coming TV presenter almost forty years ago, has “no plans” to divorce her unfaithful husband. After leaving This Morning in disgrace 16 months ago, all eyes are back on the presenter as he makes his TV comeback on Channel 5’s Phillip Schofield: Cast Away airing tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday at 9pm.
Article continues below
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The star has spent 10 days on an inhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar, where he is shown fending for himself – while also talking openly about those who he feels ‘threw him under the bus’, appearing to point a finger at ex-co-host and friend Holly Willoughby.
Molly is also his publicist and has been instrumental in his return to our screens – after his incredible fall from grace. Both she and sister Ruby are fiercely protective of their dad. The 62-year-old saw his success and fame crumble away after he admitted to an affair with a much younger male colleague – a colleague who he had helped get a job at ITV working alongside him.
On Phillip Schofield : Cast Away, he says: “Shamed, disgraced Phillip Schofield. Who had an affair. But strangely, I think another TV Presenter or two might have done exactly the same thing. Difference is, heterosexual. It’s not 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.”
Article continues below
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Phil and Stephanie had been married for 27 years when they separated in 2020(Image: Getty Images Europe)
The couple remain married and are navigating life as a family of four(Image: Alan Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)
Phil came out as gay in February 2020 but whilst on the desert Island he admits it was not as freeing for him as it can be for some people and came with its own problems. In the opening episode he explains: “I’m very proud of what I did, and I know that coming out for many people is liberating….but for me doing it later in life, at the moment it’s just given me more anguish than joy because I am fully aware of the damage that is leaves.”
Article continues below
Friends of Stephanie claimed she had “no idea” her husband was in a secret relationship with another man before he came out as gay on This Morning in 2020. However, a source claimed there is still “friendship” between the two which is why they have yet to divorce.
“Phil has caused his wife a lot of hurt in recent times,” they said, “but there’s no denying, they still have a great friendship and share a lot of love.” Steph met Phillip early in his career when she was a BBC TV production assistant. They have been married for 30 years.
In February 2020, before the affair scandal broke, Phil took to Instagram with an emotional statement and wrote: “With the strength and support of my wife and my daughters, I have been coming to terms with the fact that I am gay. This is something that has caused many heartbreaking conversations at home.”
Article continues below
He also admitted he knew he was gay when he married Stephanie. He said in an interview at the time: “I must have been gay when I wed but I was so happy I never considered it. I am not saying I didn’t know whatever was there. I thought ‘OK whatever this is, you stay back because I am happy’.”
A friend close to the couple told the Mirror that Stephanie was “absolutely shattered” by the news. The source added: “She and the girls love him very much and will support him as much as they can, but the knowledge they have been living a lie for so long is terribly hurtful. It’s humiliating to think that you’re married to someone who doesn’t love you the way you love them.”
The duo, who married in 1993, separated after 27 years when Phil publicly came out in 2020. However, Phil was seen wearing his wedding ring when he visited his elderly mum Pat, 87, in Cornwall over the summer. The duo have yet to legally end their nuptials and remain married.
Article continues below
According to sources, the husband and wife still have feelings of love which makes getting divorced too painful for them to contemplate. A source told OK! Magazine in November: “Whatever Phillip has done behind Steph’s back, she still loves him.
“Even if the love they shared in the beginning of their marriage is different to what it is now, the love is still very much there.” The source went on to suggest being an official divorce could be too much of an insult to add to Phil’s injury.
They claimed: “Steph is, and always will be, Phillip’s support system. She hasn’t divorced him because she doesn’t want to see him fall any further.” It came after Phil’s “unwise but not illegal” affair ultimately cost him his career – as his managers and ITV cut ties with him due to the explosive scandal. Back in May, he initially quit This Morning.
Article continues below
Phil’s family have supported him throughout the last few years and his daughters have stood by his side(Image: Doug Peters/EMPICS Entertainment)
Phil admitted: “I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning. I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.”
In an interview with BBC News, Phil revealed he turned to wife Stephanie before releasing his confessional statement. He said: “I had a wonderful marriage.. have! a wonderful marriage”, correcting himself – before proudly flashing up his gold wedding band still on his left hand. “Not brilliant right now,” he added, before praising Steph as being an “incredibly supportive wife”.
Clarifying his relationship with Steph, Phil said: “We are separated but we are very much together. Let’s just say it was an incredibly difficult conversation. The most difficult conversation I’ve ever had to have with her and she is extremely disappointed because I lied to her as well. But she wished me well today.”
In a second interview with The Sun, Phil said his wife was “very, very angry” after he confessed to her about his affair, and his daughters also thought he had “screwed up royally” but had also been “unbelievably supportive”. He opened up about realising that he was gay while still being happily married. He said: “Something started trying to trip me up and I couldn’t figure out what it was.”
At the end of last year, it was claimed the pair had plans to spend Christmas together. A source told Woman’s Own: “Christmas is all about spending time with the people you love. While Phil and Steph are no longer together in the traditional sense, there’s still a lot of love between them.” They added: “Phil spends a lot of time with his family, which includes Steph, so it’s natural that they’d spend the big day together.”
