Trigger Warning: this article contains discussions of mental health and suicide.
Caroline Flack’s mum has responded after Phillip Schofield compared himself to the late presenter in an interview.
The former This Morning host made the comment during his tense BBC interview, one of the first since he left the daytime show.
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After his alleged feud with co-star Holly Willoughby and his affair with a younger male colleague, Schofield hasn’t left the front page in weeks.
Because of this, the presenter compared himself to Caroline Flack – who had been under immense media scrutiny after she had been arrested for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend.
Tragically, the Love Island host passed away at her London flat in February 2020 with a coroner ruling the 40-year-old’s sudden death a suicide.
Now under similar scrutiny, Schofield compared himself to the late TV personality as he spoke about quitting ITV amid the ongoing scandal.
"I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart," he admitted to the BBC.
"But it continues, and it is relentless. It is day after day after day after day. If you do that, and you don’t think that is going to have the most catastrophic effect on someone’s mind, what do you want?”
He then pointedly told the interviewer: "Do you want me to die? Because that’s where I am."
Looking overwhelmed and emotional, the former Dancing On Ice presenter said he ‘understood’ how Flack felt and candidly spoke about the impact on his mental health.
“My girls saved my life. They said, last week, they haven’t left me for a moment. They’ve been by my side every moment because they’re scared to let me out of their sight,” Schofield said, “If my girls hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here. Because I don’t see a future."
Whilst his comments have received a mixed reaction online, Flack's mum Christine has been sympathetic to the former daytime host.
In her own interview with the BBC, she said: "I think he's now realising even more what she went through. But until it happens to you, you feel sad but you don't understand.
"Every day she would try to be a bit stronger, which I should imagine Phillip is [doing]. You get more and more thrown at you."
She also lashed out at ITV, saying that the broadcaster had treated its employees as ‘commodities’ and said that someone need to speak to Schofield.
Tyla has contacted ITV for comment.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123
Topics: Celebrity, Mental Health, Phillip Schofield, TV And Film, ITV, Caroline Flack
Katherine Sidnell