Phillip Schofield reveals Drag Race legend Michelle Visage took him out and ‘welcomed him to the club’ after his coming out
Phillip Schofield and Michelle Visage struck up a friendship after he came out (Jeff Spicer/Getty)
Phillip Schofield has revealed that Drag Race judge Michelle Visage took him to lunch and provided him with support when he came out.
The long-serving This Morning host explained on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast that vocal LGBT+ ally Michelle Visage was among the many people to lend him support when he came out as gay in February, after 27 years married to wife Stephanie.
Schofield explained: “Before we all got locked down [due to coronavirus], I had lunch with Michelle Visage… she’s one of those really kind, compassionate people, and I’ve known her on and off the telly, and she was one of those people that messaged me… the most amazing people messaged me.
“She said: ‘Right, I’m going to take you out for coffee, we’ve got to talk and I want to make sure you’re okay.’ That’s what a lot of people have said: ‘Are you OK, are you sure you’re OK?’
“We went out, and I said: ‘I feel like I’ve joined a club, but I don’t know whether I’ve got the right credentials. I don’t know. Can I put a rainbow after stuff that I’ve said?’
“And she said: ‘Of course you can!’ I said: ‘I don’t know what I can and can’t do.’
“She said: ‘You’re beating yourself up for no reason, welcome to the club. And what’s more, you have made a massive difference to people who also didn’t realise that they perhaps could have membership to that club.’”
Schofield continued: “I was beginning to understand that, and then we got locked down! That was the beginning of all of those things, beginning to understand this and find that bit in my head. It is just a case of colouring in all the bits.”
Phillip Schofield is a ‘work in progress’ after coming out.
Phillip Schofield has spoken candidly about his coming out process and his current mental health struggles as he releases new autobiography, Life’s What You Make It, explaining that he still sees a psychologist and takes medication.
Phillip Schofield and wife of 27 years Stephanie Lowe (Jeff Spicer/WireImage)
In the book, he writes: “My mental health is still a work in progress. I talk regularly to a professional team who tell me that everything will be OK.
“Sometimes I have my doubts. If I’m totally honest with you, as I’ve said before, it’s not in my nature to hurt people and so, with that in mind, I’m finding it hard to pick my way through the debris.
“Is there a way to reveal a secret like this to the world and not hurt your wife or your family? The answer is obviously not. But we are close and loving. We’ll get through.”
Discussing his adjustment to being out, Schofield wrote: “Am I struggling with it all? Very much. I’m wearing new clothes, but they don’t quite fit. Maybe I’ll grow into them.
“I still have dark days full of confusion, days when wading through life would be easier if the water wasn’t at chest height.”
