Phillip Schofield says he does not plan to divorce his wife after coming out as gay

‘We have not discussed that at all,’ says TV presenter

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Phillip Schofield has said that he has no plans to divorce his wife of 27 years, Stephanie Lowe after publicly coming out as gay.

In February, the This Morning presenter released a statement on Instagram revealing that he is gay.

The television broadcaster said that Lowe and their two daughters, Ruby and Molly, had been supporting him while he had been “coming to terms with the fact that I am gay”.

Now, speaking on the Chris Evans podcast, How To Wow, Schofield has confirmed that he and Lowe are still married.

Evans asked Schofield: “How long will the wedding ring stay on for?”

Schofield replied: “I'm still married to Steph. There is a great deal of talk of divorce - we have not discussed that at all.”

The 58-year-old presenter continued: “With divorce...that has not been discussed. We are picking our way through and however that works and it's a work in progress. I am a work in progress. Steph is a work in progress.”

The father-of-two added that he doesn’t want to hurt his family.“It is not in my nature to hurt people and so I have to reconcile myself with the fact that I have done that,” he said. 

“Indeed I have done that and I tried very hard not to. I also say, is it possible to come out and not hurt your wife? No of course it isn't. My greatest concern is that she is okay."

Schofield’s comments come after he opened up about how keeping his sexuality a secret impacted his mental wellbeing, explaining that he once had to leave the This Morning set to be sick due to the pressure.

On Thursday 15 October, Schofield released his new autobiography Life’s What You Make It, in which he writes: “I had to come out. If I didn't, the secret was going to give me a total breakdown . . . at best,” according to OK magazine.

Schofield recalls one time when he was en route to ITV studios, when he heard a voice in his head that said: “You’re f***ing up everything and everyone and there’s no way to stop it.”

"It was the first time my issues had spilled over into work,” he says in the memoir.

“Another day I had to leave a fashion item to be sick. I now knew that I needed professional help."