Phillip Schofield

Phillip Schofield was born in Oldham, Manchester on April 1st, 1962. When he was two, Phillip and his parents moved to Newquay in Cornwall. By the age of ten he had already decided that he wanted to pursue a career in broadcasting and began to write to the BBC. He was finally offered a job in September 1979 at Broadcasting House, London, working for Radio Outside Broadcasts as a bookings clerk. At 17, he was the youngest person in the building.

At 19, Phillip left the BBC and emigrated with his family to New Zealand. On arrival he was asked by TVNZ to front their new pop show SHAZAM!. Within a year he began a regular Sunday morning radio programme for Auckland station Radio Hauraki and became a regular presenter of other popular NZ tv shows. After three and a half years he decided that it was time to return to Britain.

Within four months, the BBC presentation department offered him the job of fronting CHILDREN’S BBC from the Broom Cupboard; the first time in 35 years that an `in-vision' presenter had linked the weekday afternoon programmes. Phillip accepted and stayed with presentation for two years. He then went on to present 6 series of the popular live Saturday morning show GOING LIVE with Sarah Greene, four series of TAKE TWO, three series of his own quiz show, THE MOVIE GAME, and two series of the highly acclaimed travel show SCHOFIELD’S EUROPE.

Phillip was also awarded with the ‘Top Man on TV’ Award for three years running and the TV Times Award for four consecutive years. 1993 saw him being awarded with the highly prestigious Show Business Personality of the Year by The Variety Club of Great Britain.

His biggest challenge by far came in 1993 when he was asked by Andrew Lloyd Webber to take over the role of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat from Jason Donovan. This saw him on stage, and with front page rave reviews at the iconic London Palladium Phillip then took the show on tour around the UK and Ireland from December 1993 until mid 1996.

In 1996 Phillip signed an exclusive contract with Carlton Television and presented a number of shows including SCHOFIELD’S QUEST, TENBALL, TALKING TELEPHONE NUMBERS, ONE IN A MILLION and TV GOLD.

The summer of 1998 saw the launch of another of Phillip’s biggest career projects. On the 14th July 1998 he returned to the Labatt’s Apollo, Hammersmith to play “Doctor Dolittle” in the four million pound world premier stage production of the film. Having run the show in Hammersmith for a year the production was taken around the major theatres in Britain with Phillip at the helm, finally finishing in September 2001. Whilst touring, he also managed to find the time to play Jack The Ripper at Windsor in “The Lodger”.

Phillip moved to television from theatre in 2002 when he signed to co-present the flagship ITV1 show THIS MORNING with Fern Britton. The duo brought the show back to essential viewing, winning many awards including the National Television Award 2004 for “Best Daytime Programme”.

He also presented the Hit BBC Show TEST THE NATION for two years before signing an exclusive contract with ITV.

Since then he has become one of the principle faces for ITV. Continuing to present THIS MORNING with Fern Britton and then striking up a new and successful partnership with Holly Willoughby which has earned them a trio of National Television Awards for Best Factual Programme, as well as a host of other awards.

Phillip has continued to host ITVs award winning, ratings juggernaut DANCING ON ICE since 2006, originally with his This Morning co-host Holly Willoughby and then more recently, he and Olympic Legends Torvil and Dean have been joined by Christine Bleakley.

August 2009 saw the launch of THE CUBE for ITV1. Now in its sixth series, it regularly has the nation on the edge of their seats with its fast, tense, contemporary style and extraordinary visual effects. THE CUBE was awarded a BAFTA in 2011, which cemented its place as essential, appointment to view tv. Phillip’s fifth series of the hugely popular MR & MRS will air later in 2013.

Amongst his regular TV presentation portfolio, Phillip continues to enjoy a very versatile set of television roles – from the annual presentation of THE BRITISH SOAP AWARDS, he is seen as a trusted host for some of the country’s biggest television events including THE ROYAL VARIETY PERFORMANCE in front of Her Majesty The Queen, NELSON MANDELA’s 90TH BIRTHDAY CONCERT Live from Hyde Park and the annual TEXT SANTA TV fundraiser for ITV. In 2011 he co-hosted, with Julie Etchingham, the widely acclaimed ITV coverage of THE ROYAL WEDDING between Kate Middleton and Prince William and, in 2012, was honoured to be asked to co-anchor ITVs coverage of the Queens Diamond Jubilee.

2012 saw Phillip celebrate 30 years in television – now in his 31st year of his career, Phillip says that he is as excited now as he was when he first appeared in front of the camera, in New Zealand, on the 8th March 1982!! As a major wine enthusiast, Phillip is proud to have begun working alongside WAITROSE, recommending wines to accompany seasonal menus through their various platforms.

Phillip married Stephanie Lowe in March 1993 at Ackergill Tower, Wick, Scotland. They have two daughters, Molly and Ruby and live in Oxfordshire.