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Phillip Schofield jokily announces he's 'leaving' This Morning

Luckily, the TV presenter was just joking!

phillip schofield jokes hes leaving this morning
Francesca Shillcock
Senior Features Writer
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Phillip Schofield announced to This Morning viewers on Tuesday morning that he was "leaving" the ITV show to retrain as a paramedic.

The 58-year-old's comment came as a result of taking the government's 'retraining' survey – which was put out after it was suggested those working in the arts and creative industry could retrain for new careers in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

MORE: Phillip Schofield has not 'discussed' divorce with wife Stephanie

However, thankfully, the morning TV favourite was just joking, so won't be disappearing from our screens anytime soon.

phillip schofield leaving this morning© Photo: Rex

The presenter joked he was leaving the ITV show to become a paramedic

After explaining the survey suggested Phillip retrain a paramedic, the presenter told viewers at home: "I've just announced I'm leaving This Morning and I'm going to become a paramedic," leading co-host Holly Willoughby to quip: "[It was] nice knowing you!"

Phillip later added during the show: "My uncle was a paramedic and I was so impressed by what he could do, I loved all that." Meanwhile, the London Ambulance Service picked up on the ITV star's comments, tweeting him directly: "We think you'd be great!"

The This Morning host has been extremely open about his struggles in recent times, in particular how they have affected his work and time on the show. 

MORE: Phillip Schofield turns down 'dinner and drinks' with fellow celebrity

MORE: Phillip Scofield addresses dramatic weight loss caused by stress

holly and phil© Photo: Rex

Holly Willoughby joked it was "nice knowing" her co-star

Speaking on Lorraine earlier this month about the release of his new autobiography, Life's What You Make It, the presenter held back tears as he recalled when he didn't turn up for work one day last year while going through his mental health struggles.

He explained: "I said to my driver 'Just go to the flat' and we drove past [the studio] and I went to the flat and I made a very stupid mistake of turning my phone off. So nobody knew where I was.

"I told Steph [at the time], I just said 'I can't go in to the office, today' and that was that and then I turned my phone off. I just sat in the flat, and This Morning started and I was at one end of London and it was at the other, and that was a very, very silly thing to do because I think people thought that I may have done something stupid, which of course I wouldn't have done."

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