Chris Tarrant says Phillip Schofield ‘lost the plot’ after fame ‘went to his head’
Broadcaster Chris Tarrant has declared Phillip Schofield the “most overexposed man” on television and said his decades-long career was filled with “mainly c***”.
The 78–year-old former Who Wants to Be a Millionaire host said only Terry Wogan was more visible on the airwaves than Schofield, which was fine because the 77-year-old is “funny and likeable, and bright as a button” , whereas the same could not be said for the former This Morning star.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Tarrant said: “Schofield, they always said, ‘Oh, but he’s a safe pair of hands.’ Did anyone ever say, ‘Ooh it’s five to eight, got to get home quick because there’s a safe pair of hands is on?’”
He concluded: “Dear oh dear. Those shows he did – Dancing on Ice, The Cube, everything –were mainly c***”
Schofield , 63, left ITV in 2023 after admitting he lied about having a consensual relationship with a younger man, who worked as a runner on This Morning.
The presenter said he helped the teenager secure work experience with the channel when he was around 19 but denied having any form of sexual contact with him until he was around 20 years old.
Elsewhere in the interview, Tarrant said that radio people are “much nicer generally” than television stars.
.png)
“You can get away with stuff on telly when people think you’re a wonderful human being because you do 13 weeks a year, you put on your suit and go into this smarmy smile mode,” he said.
“There are people who are not very nice on television who get away with it because they do the image for an hour then go back and scream at everybody in the dressing room. And I do know one of two of them.”
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Tarrant was Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’s first host when it launched on ITV in 1998 and went on to present it for 30 series before leaving the programme in 2014.
It was revived for a special season in 2018, and has been presented by Jeremy Clarkson ever since.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/keke-palmer-usher-081523-bdf57863c363498bbc9a7057aec3fa93.jpg?w=390&resize=390,220&ssl=1 "Keke Palmer dishes on Usher Vegas dance, boyfriend drama in ‘My Confessions’")
