Phillip Schofield’s bond with his estranged wife Stephanie has remained far stronger than many may have realised, despite the personal and professional storms that have surrounded the former This Morning presenter in recent years.
When Phillip came out as gay in 2020, he openly spoke about the continued love and support of his wife Steph, whom he married in 1993. Alongside their two daughters, Molly and Ruby, she stood by him through the painful fallout that followed, including the scandal over what he later described as an “unwise but not illegal” relationship with a younger work colleague.
That scandal ultimately cost him his television career in 2023, forcing him to step away from This Morning and other high-profile roles. But now, two years after that dramatic exit, newly filed company accounts suggest that Phillip and Steph’s connection remains both personal and financial.
Despite being officially separated, the pair appear to still be deeply linked. Phillip, 63, continues to wear his wedding ring, still spends time at the family home, and remains in business with Steph through their company, Fistral Productions.
The firm was set up by Phillip and Stephanie Schofield in 2010, and she remains a director. In a striking detail from the latest accounts, it was “S Schofield” rather than Phillip who signed off the paperwork.
The accounts show that the company holds just over £2 million in net equity, suggesting it has remained financially stable despite the dramatic changes in Phillip’s public life.
Notes attached to the accounts also state that Fistral Productions is owed more than £900,000 by Fistral Properties, another company owned by the husband and wife. 
Their situation has been described as unusual but close: officially separated, with Phillip living in Chiswick, west London, yet still connected to Steph and the family home.
Back in February 2020, Phillip praised his “remarkable” wife after publicly announcing his sexuality live on the This Morning sofa.
He later admitted that he had known he was gay when he married Stephanie, but said he had been living what appeared to be the perfect life as a husband and father, and had not wanted anything to disrupt his family’s happiness.
Phillip acknowledged the pain he had caused his wife, saying that the hardest part was knowing he had hurt someone he still loved deeply.
He said he loved Steph as much as when they first met, perhaps even more.
It was later reported that Stephanie chose not to file for divorce because she did not want Phillip to “fall any further” than he already had. Despite everything, it was claimed that love between them remained very much present.
Phillip made his television comeback last October in the Channel 5 series Cast Away.
During the programme, he spoke openly about feeling betrayed by some ITV colleagues, claiming he had been “chucked under a bus.” He also appeared to make a pointed remark about his former co-host Holly Willoughby.
The show featured Phillip discussing his decision to take part in the series at the marital home in Henley with Steph and their daughters, Molly and Ruby.
He also revealed the depths of despair he had experienced after the scandal, saying he had shut himself away from the outside world.
In the first episode of the three-part series, Phillip admitted that the previous 18 months had become as dark as possible. He said that at one point he had come frighteningly close to ending his life.
He credited his daughters, Molly and Ruby, with helping to pull him back from the edge, recalling how Molly made him understand the devastating impact it would have had on the family.
Phillip said he raced to the family home, shut the gates, and stayed there.
Paying tribute to Steph and his daughters, he said that without them, he would not still be here.
After the 2023 scandal, Phillip, who had also fronted Dancing on Ice with Holly and enjoyed a series of lucrative advertising deals, was dropped as an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust.
He later admitted that he had made a “grave error,” while continuing to insist that the affair had been “unwise but not illegal.”
At the time, Phillip said he now had to talk about television in the past tense, something he described as heartbreaking. He said he had lost everything.
For Phillip, one of the hardest parts to explain was the impact the revelations had on Stephanie, to whom he remains married after 32 years, as well as the pain suffered by his daughters Molly, 31, and Ruby, 28.
He previously described having a wonderful marriage, though he admitted it was not in a good place at the time, with an incredibly supportive wife and two wonderful children.
Discussing the moment he confessed the affair to his wife, Phillip said it was the most difficult conversation he had ever had with her, adding that she was extremely disappointed because he had lied to her too.
Last week, Phillip was pictured enjoying an afternoon at a bar with a friend, Joshua Sharman, a nurse and senior lecturer in adult nursing at London South Bank University.
Joshua lives with Scott Brown, a longtime friend of Phillip’s.
Speaking from the family home in Leicester, Joshua’s father Mark Sharman said his son and Phillip had been good friends for many years.
He insisted they were not partners but simply friends who had gone out as part of a group.
Mark also said he believed Phillip had been treated unfairly by ITV, describing him as a lovely man and saying he thought he was doing well after everything he had been through.
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/
