Phillip Schofield: Secret relationship beginnings with future wife Stephanie unearthed

Phillip Schofield was first introduced to Stephanie at a party where the pair “hit it off immediately”. She was a 23-year-old BBC secretary and the future This Morning star was rising through the ranks of the TV world. By 1993, the couple would get married and would go onto have daughters Ruby and Molly. But the “loved up life” of Phillip and Stephanie came into the spotlight last month after the ITV star announced he was gay. While the couple currently have “no plans to divorce” it’s hard to know what the future holds for their 27 year relationship. In unearthed claims, it appears that Phillip’s sexual orientation wasn’t the only secret in their relationship – because they kept their initial courtship hidden behind closed doors too.

Phillip Schofield, 57, is now known as one of the most familiar faces in TV.

He has hosted This Morning for 18 years alongside Fern Britton initially and then Holly Willoughby.

As a young man – and eligible bachelor fronting popular shows – his love life was regularly questioned.

After Phillip got his initial break in New Zealand on the TV show ‘Shazam!’, he would fall for a trainee floor manager named Marika Tautz.

The pair were madly in love until it all came crashing down when Phillip popped the question – and she simply replied “No”.

Phillip was linked with other romantic interests at the time including New Zealand radio presenter Fenella Bathfield.

But the exact year that the talented presenter was first introduced to future love Stephanie Lowe is quite unclear.

In Robin McGibbon’s 1992 biography ‘Phillip Schofield: The Whole Amazing Story’ he believed the pair met through fellow children’s TV presenter Andy Crane.

According to the writer, the “lovely” then-24-year-old woman and Phillip became quite infatuated with one another.

Mr McGibbon wrote: “They had hit it off immediately and, it seemed, they were seeing more and more of each other.”

JUST IN: Phillip Schofield: How Gordon the Gopher made This Morning star rich

At this time in his life, Phillip was “secretive about his love life” and relentlessly ploughed himself into his work.

Busy with both TV and radio hosting gigs, he had undertaken a gruelling seven-days-a-week schedule.

When quizzed about his love life in 1991, Phillip said that he hoped when “the time comes for someone to open the door to my heart, the lock hasn’t rusted”.

Mr McGibbon claimed that by this point it was already rumoured that Stephanie could have already moved into his Chiswick home, in London.

DON’T MISS
Phillip Schofield snub: TV star was told to get ‘normal’ job as a kid [EXPOSED]
Phillip Schofield: Talent spotter recalls ITV star’s first appearance [REVEALED]
Phillip Schofield: Romantic prank to first love who broke his heart [UNEARTHED] 

Despite this, the relationship status of Phillip and Stephanie was unknown at this point.

Mr McGibbon wrote: “If he was seeing Stephanie, he wasn’t saying anything.

“Whether Stephanie Lowe was trying to open the door to his heart, he was not publicly admitting.

“But it does seem certain, in view of what was to emerge later that she WAS.”

Source: Read Full Article