The television presenter Phillip Schofield has said he suspected he was gay when he got married 27 years ago, but suppressed his feeling because he was happy.
“I am not saying I didn’t know. Whatever was there, I thought: OK, whatever this is, you stay back because I am happy,” he told the Sun on Sunday in his first interview since revealing he was gay on Friday.
The This Morning presenter added: “I was confused by what it was. I thought maybe I was bisexual. But over time I realised and started coming to terms with it. And I realised I had to be honest with myself. If you ask anyone who is gay, they know – there is no confusion.”
Schofield said his “remarkable” wife, Steph, had been supportive. The couple met when Schofield was 25 and working in the BBC Broom Cupboard, while she was a production assistant.
“Steph is my closest confidante. She’s been amazing. I have no secrets from Steph,” he said. “We have been very truthful and honest. She has known for a while. When you live with someone, you know these things, don’t you?
“We sat down and we talked and then she left me to have space. I don’t know what it would have been like if I had a different person in my life.
“It has been a process, we started having discussions and it was gradual. There is no question she is a truly remarkable person – the kindest, sweetest soul I could have possibly met.”
But the presenter said he knew he had caused her great pain. “That is what makes this so hard. Knowing you are hurting the perfect person,” he said. “But I still love Steph as much as when we first met. More, probably.”
Schofield did not say if he was in a relationship with a man, only that he his wife and two daughters, Molly, 26, and Ruby, 24, would “always be a family”.
He said: “It has taken me a long time to get here, I am not rushing to get to any other place. We will always be a family. That is the one definite, constant, absolute positive thing. And where the wind blows us I don’t know.”
On Saturday his daughter Molly posted an Instagram image of the family and wrote: “Love you always, so proud of you.”
Schofield said: “Our daughters have always been a credit to us. And I am so proud of them. When you test them to this degree you wonder. But they have been amazing.
“Even before we told them, they picked up that something was wrong. That I had been very low. The whole family picked up on it.”
He added: “I have cried an awful lot in the past few months. I hope this will now bring some relief. But my main priority is looking after the most important people in my life.”
