Dame Joanna Lumley has sent a message of “love” to Phillip Schofield as he returns to TV for the first time in nearly two years with a Channel 5 survival show.
The Absolutely Fabulous actress, 78, was cast away off the coast of Madagascar in Girl Friday, a 1994 BBC programme that took its name from a character in Daniel Defoe’s island-set adventurer novel Robinson Crusoe.
Schofield is taking part in a similar show on Channel 5, after being out of the limelight following his admission of an affair with a younger colleague, which he said was “unwise but not illegal”, and leaving ITV and This Morning in 2023.
As he prepares to arrive on the island for Phillip Schofield: Cast Away, Dame Joanna sent him a message saying: “Listen, Phil these are the tips I’ve got, keep your knives sharp, spend much of the day trying to find wood otherwise you won’t be able to eat anything.
“When I was on the island I made a pair of shoes out of my bra… and I would love to think that you could do something a bit challenging, and bring it back so we could all look at it.
“I shall be thinking of you all the time Phil, and actually I’m a little bit jealous, lots of love.”
Schofield, 62, said: “Oh you darling, thank you so much, that’s amazing.”
When comedian Ruby Wax was left on an island in the Indian Ocean for 10 days, and had to document her own story with body and hand-held cameras, in the first series of the show, she was sent a letter from Dame Joanna.
In the three-part show, Phillip Schofield: Cast Away, the former presenter will be in a similar situation, trying to find his own food and shelter to survive.
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away begins at 9pm on Monday on Channel 5, and will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday at the same time.
