Eamonn Holmes has dramatically recalled the moment Phillip Schofield came out to him as gay, saying his ‘acting' was 'amazing'.
Schofield, 61, publicly announced he was gay via social media in 2020, before going on to speak out about his news during a live segment on This Morning.
Appearing on the sofa alongside Holmes, his wife Ruth Langsford – both of whom were presenting the show that day – and Holly Willoughby, he said at the time: "All you can be in your life is honest with yourself. I was getting to the point where I didn't like myself as I was not being honest.”
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Holmes has now revealed that he had received no notice about the bombshell revelation, saying he found out just moments before in the dressing room after receiving an early call from producers to say that Schofield would be appearing on the programme that day.
Speaking about the unexpected announcement in the latest instalment of his interview with GB News’ Dan Wootton - an explosive tell-all about his experiences with the star in the wake of his affair scandal - he said he initially thought his co-star had 'killed a child or something'.
Holmes said: “He [Schofield] comes into our dressing room, and he falls down on his knees, the acting is amazing, he falls down on his knees crying.
“I said to him, ‘What's the matter? What's the matter?’", to which Schofield told him: “I’m gay!”
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Holmes said the then replied: "Is that all? What is this?"
He added: “I first thought he killed a child or something. I stood him up, I pulled him up and I said, ‘What are you talking about? So you're gay’.
“And that tied into a lot of things that, you know, you may have heard, and I think anybody to be imprisoned in a life that isn't true to them would be totally wrong.
“We were very supportive, Ruth hugged him and we said, ‘Look, we'll stand by you, it’s all ok’.
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“I mean, it wouldn't enter our minds that the man would have been discriminated against for being gay? So we were very, very supportive of that.”
Holmes said he and Langsford were 'taken for fools' during the 'choreographed' moment Schofield came out live on the show.
He said he was 'beginning to feel bad vibes', going on: "So I don't say anything in the opener. Ruth says what she has to say, then it goes to those two in their choreographed way.
"You know how false they are, I'm sure they've rehearsed it for days as to what they're going to say and do - who was going to hug."
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Holmes added: "It's been planned for some time. And it then materialises obviously all is not what it seems.
"Because he has obviously done a deal with the newspaper to give a version of what the newspaper knew, and it was all a bit weird."
Topics: Celebrity, Phillip Schofield, TV and Film, Eamonn Holmes
Jess Hardiman