Phillip Schofield Biography: Age, Height, Wife, TV Career, This Morning, Dancing on Ice & 2026 Update

Phillip Schofield is an English TV presenter best known for hosting ITV’s This Morning from 2002 to 2023 and Dancing on Ice from 2006 to 2023. Born Phillip Bryan Schofield on April 1, 1962 in Oldham, England, he is 64 years old in 2026. Standing 5 feet 11 inches tall, separated from wife Stephanie Lowe since 2020 and father to Molly and Ruby, he holds an estimated net worth of around $12 million through decades of daytime television success.

Quick Facts

Related People: Holly Willoughby (longtime This Morning co-host from 2009 to 2023), Fern Britton (original This Morning co-host), Eamonn Holmes (former This Morning host), Ruth Langsford (former This Morning host).

Early Life

Phillip Bryan Schofield was born on April 1, 1962 in Oldham, Lancashire, England to parents Brian Schofield, who managed a plastics company, and Pat Schofield, who worked in clerical roles. When Phillip was a young boy the family relocated to the seaside town of Newquay in Cornwall, where sunny beaches, surfing culture and a close community shaped his outgoing personality. He attended Trenance Infants School and Newquay Tretherras School, where teachers remember him as bright, funny and obsessed with television and radio. At just fifteen he began volunteering at Hospital Radio Plymouth, presenting Sunday records for patients and learning microphone confidence, timing and empathy for unseen audiences.

In his late teens his family emigrated briefly to New Zealand, where Phillip worked in radio and as a mobile disco DJ and learned independence far from home. After returning to Cornwall he wrote dozens of letters to BBC management asking for advice on becoming a presenter, showing relentless determination. His persistence paid off at age twenty when the BBC offered him a bookings clerk job in London, which became his foot in the door to national television. That entry-level role soon led to children’s television auditions that would change his life forever.

Career

Children’s BBC And Going Live Stardom

Phillip Schofield became a national star in 1985 at age twenty-three as the first in-vision continuity presenter for Children’s BBC from the tiny booth nicknamed The Broom Cupboard. Working alongside puppet Gordon the Gopher, he linked cartoons live with warmth, cheeky humor and flawless ad-libbing when tapes failed. In 1987 he was promoted to BBC One’s flagship Saturday morning show Going Live, which he co-hosted until 1993 with huge audiences for phone-ins, celebrity interviews and comedy sketches. Those eight years made him the biggest children’s presenter of his generation and proved he could handle live television under intense pressure.

ITV Superstardom With This Morning And Dancing On Ice

Phillip moved to ITV in the early 1990s and steadily became one of Britain’s most trusted daytime faces through shows like Talking Telephone Numbers and Winning Lines. His defining role arrived in 2002 when he joined This Morning, first with Fern Britton and from 2009 with Holly Willoughby, guiding the show for twenty-one years through emotional phone-ins, royal coverage and health campaigns. At the same time he fronted Dancing on Ice from 2006 to 2023 with Holly, becoming the reassuring voice of live Sunday skating finals. He also hosted the tense game show The Cube from 2009 to 2015 and All Star Mr and Mrs from 2008 to 2016, plus the National Television Awards, earning over one million dollars per year at his peak.

Career Stats

• Total Years Active: He worked more than forty-one years from hospital radio in 1977 to his ITV exit in 2023, including thirty-eight years on national television.
• This Morning Tenure: He hosted This Morning for twenty-one years from 2002 to 2023, presenting more than three thousand live episodes with Fern Britton and Holly Willoughby.
• Dancing On Ice Tenure: He hosted fourteen series across 2006 to 2014 and 2018 to 2023, leading every live Sunday final to millions of viewers.
• Other Flagship Shows: He fronted nine series of The Cube, eight series of All Star Mr and Mrs and six series of Going Live with consistently strong ratings.
• Author Success: His 2020 memoir Life’s What You Make It debuted at number one on the UK Sunday Times bestseller list and sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

Personal Life

Phillip Schofield met Stephanie Lowe, a BBC production assistant, when he was twenty-five and working on Children’s BBC, and they married in March 1993 at Ackergill Tower in Scotland. The couple raised two daughters, Molly born in 1993 and Ruby born in 1996, in a Georgian home in Henley-on-Thames largely away from cameras. Stephanie avoided publicity while Phillip often called her his rock and best friend who kept him grounded through fame. Their marriage was seen for decades as one of showbusiness’s most stable partnerships.

In February 2020 Phillip posted an emotional Instagram statement and appeared live on This Morning to announce that he is gay, explaining he had struggled for years and had his family’s permission to share his truth. Stephanie continued to support him, the family stayed close and Phillip moved to a separate riverside apartment while remaining devoted to his daughters. In 2026 he remains legally married to Stephanie but separated romantically, describing her as family rather than a wife and focusing on his daughters, his mother in Cornwall and a small circle of friends.

Dating History

• Stephanie Lowe from 1987 to present, married 1993: They dated for six years after meeting at the BBC, married in Scotland in 1993, had daughters Molly and Ruby and stayed together twenty-seven years before his February 2020 coming out.
• Gay Coming Out on February 7 2020: He came out as gay on Instagram and live on This Morning with Holly Willoughby beside him, thanking his wife and daughters for their love and receiving wide public support.
• Affair Admission in May 2023: He admitted to an unwise but not illegal consensual affair with a much younger male This Morning runner he had mentored, apologizing to his family and ITV for lying about the relationship.

Controversies

The biggest controversy of Phillip Schofield’s career erupted in May 2023 when he stepped down from This Morning amid reports of a rift with Holly Willoughby and questions about a young male colleague. Within days he admitted to an unwise but not illegal affair with a This Morning runner in his twenties whom he had first met as a teenager seeking work experience, and he confessed to lying to ITV and his family. ITV immediately cut ties, his agency dropped him and he was removed from awards and ambassador roles.

ITV commissioned an external review which found no toxic cover-up but criticized Schofield for deception, while regulators found no illegal conduct and filed no criminal charges. He gave tearful interviews apologizing to the young man, to Stephanie and to his daughters, and spoke openly about mental health struggles afterward. By 2026 the scandal remains the defining endnote to his ITV career, and he has chosen private family life over a television comeback.

Awards and Achievements

• National Television Awards: He won Best Daytime Show with This Morning for many consecutive years, including an unbeaten run from 2011 to 2019 with Holly Willoughby.
• TV Choice Awards: He was repeatedly voted Best Daytime Presenter with Holly, reflecting huge public loyalty to their partnership.
• Live News Praise: He earned Royal Television Society praise for calm handling of breaking royal, election and health news live on This Morning.
• Bestselling Author: His memoir Life’s What You Make It hit number one in 2020 and inspired a successful live tour about resilience.
• Broadcasting Milestone: ITV honored him in 2022 for twenty years on This Morning and nearly forty years on national television since The Broom Cupboard.

Physical Statistics

Phillip Schofield stands 5 feet 11 inches tall (180 cm) and weighs around 172 pounds (78 kg) with a slim television-ready build. He is known for his distinctive silver-grey hair that turned naturally from brown in his forties, paired with bright blue eyes and a warm expressive smile. He favors tailored navy suits and crisp white shirts on air, and he stays fit with running, golf and healthy eating rather than cosmetic surgery.

Quotes

“I have come to terms with the fact that I am gay, and I am at peace with the decision I have had to make.”

– Phillip Schofield, This Morning coming out interview February 2020

“Life’s what you make it, so you can waste it, enjoy it or be frightened of it, but it is what you make it.”

– Phillip Schofield from his memoir Life’s What You Make It

Favorites

• Favorite Place: He loves Newquay in Cornwall where he spent his childhood and still visits his mother for coastal walks overlooking Fistral Beach.
• Favorite Food: He enjoys a classic Sunday roast with all the trimmings and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc discovered during his time abroad.
• Favorite Show: He has named This Morning as his proudest home because live unpredictability and viewer connection made every day different.
• Favorite Hobby: He loves wine collecting, golf with showbusiness friends and walking his dogs along the Thames in Henley.
• Favorite Co-star: He still fondly names Gordon the Gopher from The Broom Cupboard as the puppet who launched his entire career.

Earnings and Net Worth

Phillip Schofield has an estimated net worth of around $12 million in 2026, built over four decades as one of Britain’s highest-paid daytime hosts. At his ITV peak from 2016 to 2022 he earned around $1.1 million per year for This Morning plus a similar fee for Dancing on Ice, plus six-figure sums for The Cube and awards hosting. He also earned from his bestselling memoir, retail endorsements and property investments in Henley-on-Thames and London. After losing his ITV contract in 2023 his income dropped sharply, but savings and property keep his fortune comfortably in multi-millions.

Interesting Facts

• He was born on April 1, April Fools Day in 1962, and he often jokes that his birthday gave him the humor needed for unpredictable live television.
• He started broadcasting at age fifteen as a volunteer at Hospital Radio Plymouth, hosting Sunday shows and operating the studio desk himself.
• He wrote dozens of letters to the BBC as a teenager begging for a job, and his persistence finally earned him a clerk role that led to television.
• He lived in New Zealand in his late teens, where working in radio and running a mobile disco taught him independence and confidence.
• He was the very first in-vision presenter for Children’s BBC in 1985, appearing live from a tiny booth with Gordon the Gopher.
• He married Stephanie Lowe in 1993 at Ackergill Tower castle in Scotland, a private romantic venue chosen for its dramatic Highland setting.
• His daughter Molly works in talent management and his daughter Ruby studied psychology, and both have publicly defended their father with loyalty.
• He is a serious wine enthusiast who co-created a wine brand and loves sharing tasting notes with fans and friends.

Did You Know Already?

• Did you know Phillip Schofield is 64 years old in 2026, yet he presented live children’s television for eight straight years without missing his Broom Cupboard shift.
• Did you know he stands 5 feet 11 inches tall, which gave him perfect on-screen balance beside Holly Willoughby on Dancing on Ice finals.
• Did you know he came out as gay live on This Morning in February 2020 with his wife’s full support in one of daytime’s most-watched moments.
• Did you know his 2023 affair admission involving a young runner he mentored led directly to his exit from ITV after thirty-one years.
• Did you know his net worth is around $12 million in 2026, earned mostly from twenty-one years hosting This Morning and fourteen series of Dancing on Ice.

Social Media Links

• Instagram: @schofe – shares family, Cornwall and wine posts with millions of followers.
• X Twitter: @Schofe – former live hub for This Morning chats, now largely inactive since 2023.
• Wikipedia: Phillip Schofield Wikipedia – full filmography, awards and career timeline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

From Hospital Radio at fifteen to The Broom Cupboard to twenty-one years leading This Morning, Phillip Schofield’s journey blends historic live television with painful personal reckoning. At sixty-four in 2026, standing 5 feet 11 inches and worth around $12 million, his legacy remains complex but significant. If you found this Phillip Schofield biography helpful, please share it with fellow fans of This Morning and classic British TV!