Phillip Schofield reveals mental health struggles
The star said earlier this year that he had ‘been coming to terms with the fact that I am gay’.
Phillip Schofield has said he has been to some “dark and scary places” with his mental health.
This Morning’s co-host, 58, told viewers of the daytime show that he will be discussing his recent struggles over the next few weeks.
The star, who revealed that he is gay live on air earlier this year, made the remarks in a discussion on the ITV show about mental health.
“Over the next few weeks I will be talking quite a lot about my mental health and where my head has been in recent times,” he said.
“It’s surprising how you think you’ve got a grip on everything and suddenly your head takes you to dark and scary places.
“There’s no question I needed a lot of help in recent times with people who sit right beside me right now,” he said, referring to co-host Holly Willoughby, “who helped me enormously.
“Steph, my wife at home, my girls (daughters), my family… and loved ones can be instrumental in helping.
“I understand and realise that not everyone is as lucky as I am, to have sympathetic ears to listen to… but the first point surely has to be…. to reach out to the people that know you the best and hopefully you can find a rock that you can tie yourself to.
“I’ve been to some fairly dark places in my head… when those clouds roll in… if you are patient, if you hang on, if you wait, then it is extraordinary how the clouds break up and a little bit of sunshine can come through.
“Don’t rush into judging your life because you never know where it might go quite quickly.”
Schofield revealed in February that he had “been coming to terms with the fact that I am gay”.
He wrote at the time: “You never know what’s going on in someone’s seemingly perfect life, what issues they are struggling with, or the state of their wellbeing — and so you won’t know what has been consuming me for the last few years.”
The presenter made his name alongside sidekick Gordon The Gopher on BBC Children’s TV.
He married Stephanie in Scotland in 1993 and the couple have two grown-up daughters, Ruby and Molly.
