Phillip Schofield has pledged to tell his story of “survival, both on a desert island and off it” in a Channel 5 show that sees him return the screen following his nearly two-year absence from the limelight.
The three-part show Phillip Schofield: Cast Away will see the former presenter marooned on a tropical island off the coast of Madagascar.
Schofield, 62, has made few public appearances following his resignation from ITV last May after admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague.
On Wednesday, he wrote on Instagram: “Now you know how I spent my Summer! Alone for 10 days, no food, no water, no crew. My story of survival, both on a desert island and off it.”
He also posted an image of himself on a beach with his normally clean shaven face looking shaggy with a white beard, and wearing shorts and a T-shirt.
The series will air across three nights, and will see the former presenter getting to grips with isolation across 10 days and nine nights.
Channel 5 said the experience of Schofield being left alone allows him to “confront the challenges of total isolation, the forces of nature and provides the time to battle within his own mind as he explores his own controversial story”.
Schofield said: “This is most definitely a first for me and the only thing I felt compelled to do. It appealed to me on so many levels.
“I’ve recently had a lot of time to think about my life, what went right and what went wrong, but I’ve always had the safe arms of friends and family wrapped around me. This time it’s just me, no phone, no comforts, no crew and only lip balm as a luxury.
“I’m looking forward to exploring the island, trying to tie knots to secure my shelter and foraging and fending for myself in the wild … with no help. Maybe I’ll be Robinson Crusoe, or maybe I’ll just be Tom Hanks’ Wilson and quietly drift off into the wild blue yonder.”
In the 2000 film, Cast Away Tom Hanks’ character Charles “Chuck” Noland crashes in the Pacific Ocean, and has to fend for himself for years with only a volleyball for company. Robinson Crusoe tells the story of a shipwrecked sailor trapped for decades, and meeting mutineers and natives on an island.
Channel 5 commissioning editor Guy Davies said: “This isn’t just a survival challenge, it’s chance for Phillip to look back over the last explosive 18 months of his life, and explore what happened.
“The audience will learn how he feels now about television and the future, as well as the past. And it will be Phillip Schofield as we have never seen him before – unguarded, emotional and brutally honest.”
Before the announcement, the channel posted a short clip of a mystery star walking across a remote beach, as it teased its “brand new” desert island programme on social media.
During the first season of Cast Away, comedian Ruby Wax was left on an island in the the Indian Ocean for 10 days, and had to document her own story with body and hand-held cameras.
Executive producer and managing director at production company Burning Bright Productions Clive Tulloh said: “We are very excited about this powerful and emotional series. It is much watch TV. It gives a whole new meaning to survival.”