Phillip Schofield
(Image: Phillip Schofield Instagram)

Phillip Schofield unveils extent of weight loss after 10 days on desert island for Cast Away

by · Manchester Evening News

Phillip Schofield has revealed the weight he lost during the 10 days he spent on a desert island for Cast Away. The scandal-hit star is making his TV comeback on the brand-new three-part Channel 5 series next week.

The three-part series, which begins on Monday (September 30), will see him marooned on a desert island for 10 days armed with nothing but camera gear and a lip balm, following his near two-year absence from the limelight.

Announcing the new series on Instagram on Wednesday (September 25), more than a year on from his This Morning exit and resignation from ITV last May, he called the show his "story of survival, both on a desert island and off it".

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Since filming the show, the 62-year-old has been trying to build muscle after shedding the weight. Alongside a video of him lifting in the gym, he wrote on his Instagram Story on Friday (September 27): "Leg day. Putting back the 6kg I lost on the island with muscle... not carbs."

Phillip has teased that he won't hold back on the programme. Speaking in a trailer for the upcoming show, he said: "I've been cast away on a desert island, completely on my own, all I have is camera gear, and I can say whatever I want about whatever I want. It's my chance to tell my side of my story. I know what I did was unwise, but is it enough to absolutely destroy someone?"

The disgraced star is said to have been inundated with TV offers since he quit the brunchtime show last year, but 16 months on he will return to the small screen in the new series, which will see him based on a desert island for 10 days with nothing but camera equipment to document his time.

Phillip has given a glimpse into his gym routine
(Image: Phillip Schofield Instagram)

Phillip, who quit This Morning and later ITV entirely when he admitted to having lied about an "unwise, but not illegal" affair with a younger male colleague, insisted Cast Away is the only project he fellt "compelled" to take part in.

He said: "This is most definitely a first for me and the only thing I felt compelled to do. It appealed to me on so many levels." I've recently had a lot of time to think about my life, what went right and what went wrong, but I've always had the safe arms of friends and family wrapped around me."

"This time it's just me, no 'phone, no comforts, no crew and only lip balm as a luxury. I'm looking forward to exploring the island, trying to tie knots to secure my shelter and foraging and fending for myself in the wild ... with no help."Maybe I'll be Robinson Crusoe, or maybe I'll just be Tom Hank's Wilson and quietly drift off into the wild blue yonder!!"

Cast Away begins from 9pm on Monday, September 30, on Channel 5.