Philip Scoffield, a British TV personality, recently publicly revealed that he is gay, expressing gratitude towards his wife of 27 years for her support since his disclosure.
This announcement precedes his 27th wedding anniversary with his wife, whom he married in March 1993. Scoffield and his wife, Stephanie, have two daughters together, Ruby, 24, and Molly, 27, both of whom have been supportive since the revelation of his sexual orientation.
Displaying emotion, the presenter acknowledged the “pain and upset” caused by his actions and expressed a sense of liberation resulting from his coming-out.
During a morning interview on ITV, he confided in his co-presenter Holly Willoughby, saying, “It’s tough but this is not something that’s happened quickly, I’ve had to deal this in my head for quite some time.
“I got to the stage where I thought we sit here, every day, and some amazingly brave person is sitting over there and I’m thinking ‘I have to be that person’.”
“All you can be in your life is honest with yourself. I was getting to a stage in my life where I was thinking I don’t really like myself because I’m not being honest with myself.”
“We always say ‘talk to someone’… and you must talk to someone. It’s brought me back from some dark places and in some cases talking to people saves you.”
A few minutes before the TV interview, Scoffield posted on Instagram:
“With the strength and support of my wife and my daughters, I have been coming to the terms with the fact that I am gay.”
“This is something that has caused many heart-breaking conversations at home. I have been married to Steph for nearly 27 years, and we have two beautiful grown-up daughters, Molly and Ruby.
“My family have held me so close: they have tried to cheer me up, to smother me with kindness and love, despite their own confusion.”
“Yet I still can’t sleep and there have been some very dark moments.”