Coming out

“With the strength and support of my wife, I have been coming to terms with the fact I am gay,” said telly presenter Phillip Schofield in an emotional statement. Later, he appeared on ITV’s This Morning show where he was interviewed by his co-presenter Holly Willoughby. Under the glare of the studio lights, Schofield looked strained and vulnerable. Well, who wouldn’t? And then Eamonn Holmes waddled into shot.

“Now we know why you didn’t get a hard-on when you got in a hot tub with Holly,” blurted out the veteran TV presenter. “And why your wife couldn’t have cared less.” Not Eamonn’s exact words, I grant you, but his blustering, all-about-me intervention was as subtle as a breeze block. But back to the point. Imagine being Phillip.

I’d rather like it if this story slipped quietly into the background now. Schofield has said his bit, he has been through an emotional hell and now needs to get on with his life. Do you think the press will leave him alone or will it conclude that Schofield has put this information in the public arena and he’s now fair game? What do you think?

The Mirror has run an interview with ‘a friend close to the couple’ who describes Schofield’s wife as being “absolutely shattered” (that) “they have been living a lie for so long.”

And this: “She and the girls love him very much and will support him as much as they can, but the knowledge they have been living a lie for so long is terribly hurtful. It’s humiliating to think that you’re married to someone who doesn’t love you the way you love them.”

Some ‘friend’.

These quotes may be entirely accurate, for all I know, but we know why the Mirror did this: it will sell more papers. On that basis, not only is the Mirror behaving reprehensibly, so are some of its readers.

People are speculating as to why Schofield didn’t come out until now, in his 58th year. Well, why? It’s not their business. It’s not our business. We can all have our theories and suggestions but we are not Phillip Schofield.

One day, we will move beyond the need for people to ‘come out’ and instead just let the live the lives they’re given. We don’t choose to be straight or gay: that’s just the way it is. And the people with the real issues are those whose lives are consumed by the lives of others. They are the ones who need help.