Phillip Schofield's toughest challenges while marooned on Cast Away
Phillip Schofield has embarked on the ultimate survival experience on Channel 5 show Cast Away.
All alone on a remote and unpopulated island off the coast of Madagascar, it will prove to be an intense physical challenge for the star. It's back to basics as the presenter must make fires from scratch as well as forage or catch his own food. Schofield has hailed the experience as his "story of survival" as he spent ten days and nine nights filming on his own.
It's not just a physical challenge on the island though as Schofield must confront the scandal that almost ended his career last year. The former ITV star resigned from his highly-paid job on This Morning over his affair with a younger male colleague in what he has previously called "an unwise but not illegal" romance. Schofield said he has the one chance to tell his story the way he wants.
Celebrities have undertaken challenges like this before on TV including Dame Joanna Lumley who too was cast away off the coast of Madagascar in Girl Friday, the 1994 BBC programme. Comedian Ruby Wax was also stranded on an island for 10 days in the Indian Ocean.
Here are some of the toughest things Schofield has to face while marooned on a desert island.
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No food and no water
Left to fend for himself, Schofield had no food and had to forage for his own while stranded on the sandy shores. Over the 10 days, the television presenter lost as much as 6kg as he gave up his usual home comforts. In one of the teasers, Schofield was seen cracking open a coconut to drink from on the tropical island.
Now he was back to normal life in the UK and he headed to the gym to put the weight back on by building up muscle in his legs. He wrote in the caption: "Leg day. Putting back the 6kg I lost on the island with muscle... not carbs." He added the hashtag: "twiglets."
The star had teased the hard journey when announcing his latest TV project. He said: "Now you know how I spent my Summer! Alone for 10 days, no food, no water, no crew. My story of survival, both on a desert island and off it."
Shelter and forces of nature
As well as finding his own food, Schofield faced the task of building his own shelter where he can sleep. The ex-This Morning star had to collect his own wood, build fires and maintain it for warmth and to cook any food he wanted to eat.
While he successfully manages to tie the knots to build his shelter, a storm later threatens to destroy where he is staying. In the middle of the night, disaster struck when a storm hit his camp. With no camera crew, the telly presenter must manage on his own. "Bloody hell," he said in a piece to camera. "Disaster has struck. Howling wind blowing through everything," he informed the audiences.
Some of his camp was torn down by the storm. He said: "It's taken out all the front. This is about to tear itself to pieces. And there is still every possibility that it will. Wasn't expecting that."
One chance to tell Phillip Schofield's story
Cast Away has been tipped as Schofield's one last chance to tell his story of what happened a year ago. The former ITV star had spoken to both The Sun and the BBC in the wake of his resignation before disappearing from the showbiz circuit completely and lying low for just over a year.
Now, Schofield will make his comeback after secretly filming the survival show while being totally isolated on the desert island. "All I have is camera gear and I can say whatever I want about whatever I want," he said.
Loneliness is something that Schofield will be one of the toughest challenges on the island which immediately brings to mind the Tom Hanks' Cast Away movie where his character creates a friend for himself out of a ball that washes ashore that he affectionately calls Wilson. Schofield himself poked fun at this, questioning whether he himself could become like Wilson and "quietly drift off into the wild blue yonder."
It's not only isolation that will be on Schofield's mind as he must confront his demons and the scandal that threatened to destroy his career forever. The TV star previously laid his heart on the line when he said he had experienced suicidal thoughts. In June last year, he told the BBC: "Last week, if my daughters hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here. They’ve been by my side every moment because they’re scared to let me out of their sight."
He added: "I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart. I have lost everything. What am I going to do with my days? I see nothing ahead of me but blackness, and sadness, and regret, and remorse, and guilt. I did something very wrong, and then I lied about it consistently."
Phillip Schofield's only luxury
Schofield may have had camera equipment to shoot his story but he had no mobile phone to contact his loved ones. Stranded on the desert island, the presenter revealed the one luxury he had decided to take with him was a lip balm.
He said in a statement about the show: "This is most definitely a first for me and the only thing I felt compelled to do. It appealed to me on so many levels. I've recently had a lot of time to think about my life, what went right and what went wrong, but I've always had the safe arms of friends and family wrapped around me. This time it's just me, no 'phone, no comforts, no crew and only lip balm as a luxury.
"I'm looking forward to exploring the island, trying to tie knots to secure my shelter and foraging and fending for myself in the wild with no help. Maybe I'll be Robinson Crusoe, or maybe I'll just be Tom Hanks' Wilson and quietly drift off into the wild blue yonder."
For confidential emotional support contact The Samaritans at any time by calling 116 123 or emailing jo@samaritans.org.
Watch Cast Away on Channel 5 at 9pm on Monday 30 September.
