Veteran U.K. presenter Phillip Schofield announced that he is gay on Friday morning, writing in his Instagram story that, “Today, quite rightly, being gay is a reason to celebrate and be proud.”
Schofield (pictured above with longtime “This Morning” co-host Holly Willoughby) has been married to wife Stephanie Lowe for 27 years and the couple has two daughters together.
“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,” he wrote. “With the strength and support of my wife and my daughters, I have been coming to terms with the fact that I am gay.
“My inner conflict contrasts with an outside world that has changed so very much for the better. Today, quite rightly, being gay is a reason to celebrate and be proud. Yes, I am feeling pain and confusion, but that comes only from the hurt that I am causing to my family,” Schofield, 57, continued on Instagram.
The ITV presenter who helms “Dancing on Ice” and “This Morning,” which won a National Television Award last week, went on to talk about his decision with on-air sidekick Holly Willoughby.
“You know this has been bothering me for a very long time,” he said, according to BBC News. “Everybody does this at their own speed when the time is right.
“All you can be in your life is honest with yourself and I was getting to the point where I knew I wasn’t honest with myself. I was getting to the point where I didn’t like myself very much because I wasn’t being honest with myself,” he told Willoughby on the show they have co-hosted since 2009.
“[Coming out] is my decision. This is absolutely my decision. It was something I knew that I had to do. I don’t know what the world will be like now. I don’t know how this will be taken or what people will think.”
Schofield has been a staple on U.K. television since he began as a continuity presenter for Children’s BBC in 1985. He went on to host children’s Saturday morning magazine show “Going Live!” from 1987 to 1993, before progressing to a lengthy resume of adult-oriented TV hosting gigs on both the BBC and ITV.