Philip Schofield, looking somewhat disheveled, was spotted getting close with a bleary-eyed male friend this past Saturday while his former companion Holly Willoughby enjoyed a relaxing time in Portugal.

The former This Morning host, now 63, supported his friend, 30-year-old London nurse Joshua Luke Sharman, as they exited Arzner Bar & Cafe, London’s first LGBTQ+ dedicated cinema, around 7 PM, appearing a bit unsteady.

In stark contrast, his ex-best friend and former co-presenter Holly was showcasing her serene getaway to Portugal—the same place their families used to vacation together before their public falling-out after Philip’s dramatic exit from the spotlight.

Philip, who publicly came out as gay in February 2020 on the show, withdrew from public life after leaving This Morning in 2023 following an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a 20-year-old runner.

During their outing, Philip and the attractive Joshua, who counts celebrities like Sally Lindsay and Gok Wan among his friends on Instagram, appeared quite close, sharing a warm embrace and leaning affectionately on each other.

Clad in a blue polo shirt and shorts, Joshua appeared to need his assistance in walking before enjoying a cosy cuddle in the street. 

Phillip is not the only star on Joshua’s radar, as he appears to be firm pals with Gok, with whom he is often pictured on Instagram. 

Holly and Phillip’s friendship fell apart after his affair came to light and later things broke down irretrievably after she discovered what his brother had told him about engaging in a sex act with a boy, Daily Mail revealed last year.

The extent of the former This Morning presenters’ bitter feud was exposed when Phil made his TV comeback in Channel 5 series Cast Away in October, in which he referred to Holly as ‘one of the three s***s of showbiz’.

The disgraced host accused Holly of ‘betrayal’ after suggesting she helped to orchestrate his departure from the ITV show because they thought his brother’s trial and Phillip’s affair with a young showrunner were both bad for her ‘brand’. 

Holly had previously vented her frustration at Phillip’s lies when he tried to deny he was having an affair with the showrunner, before eventually coming clean by releasing a bombshell statement to the Daily Mail in May 2023.

He said: ‘I am making this statement via the Daily Mail, to whom I have already apologised personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story [sic] which they wanted to write about me a few days ago.

‘The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning. I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.

‘Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than a just a friendship.

‘That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over…

‘I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife…

‘I am resigning from ITV with immediate effect, expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me.

‘I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it.’

The star, who has been married to Stephanie Lowe since 1993, has not publically confirmed any romance since the admission of his affair.

At the time of his departure from This Morning, it was reported that Steph had been left ‘devastated’ by the revelation and angry that her husband had lied to her.

However, it was later revealed she is choosing not to file for divorce because she does not want him to ‘fall any further’ then he already has, and despite everything, ‘the love is still very much there.’

As well as the breakdown of his marriage, Schofield’s relationship with co-host Holly Willoughby faltered in the midst of the scandal, with the pair understood to be at loggerheads.

His daughter Molly is now his publicist after she quit the talent agency that once represented her father.  

Phillip; insisted he had not ‘groomed’ his young lover, despite first meeting him when he was 15. He said: ‘Attraction is attraction. It’s no different in the gay world as it is in the heterosexual world or in the lesbian world.

‘There shouldn’t be a difference. This is where homophobia comes in. We did first meet when he was 15, I visited the drama school [he attended].’

He said the fallout from his admission that he lied about his affair with a younger male colleague had been ‘relentless’, revealing he has had suicidal thoughts.

Schofield said: ‘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. What is that like for daughters to have to go with something like that?

‘And they said to me, “Don’t you dare do this on our watch. We’re supposed to be looking after you.” If my girls hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here, because I don’t see my future.’