Television celebrities who become familiar friends on the box in the corner are shining superstars for their fans and nonentities to everyone else. The unholy fuss over the king of daytime tv Philip Schofield is a case in point. He has been at the top in his own narrow orbit for decades with a particular skill in live presenting and is described by the Mail as “so powerful at ITV that he could hire or fire anyone he wanted.”
From hero to zero he has landed with a dull thud following a falling out with his co-presenter Holly Willoughby once his protégé and his brother being imprisoned for child sex offences. Now his admission of a clandestine relationship with a young employee has put the final nail in his career. He met him when he was 15, found a job for him, lied about their liaison before coming out as gay – and is now only coming clean because the young man, now in his twenties, became tired of lying.
Headlines even in the upmarket newspapers did seem like overkill since it was – apparently – not an under-age fling. And the only reason it is worth pausing over is interesting astrology.
Born 1 April 1962 2 am (from memory) Oldham, England, he has a quick witted Aries Sun in the 3rd house. But what is eye-catching is an 8th house Pluto on the focal point of a Yod inconjunct Sun sextile Saturn. Such a Pluto would start out in life disconnected from people but it can raise the individual to an influential position where he has control. The downside is a tendency to manipulate or coerce. Pluto in the 8th would give him the ability to project an authoritative power though in a hidden way. He also has Uranus in his 8th – and the combination of both Pluto and Uranus in the 8th does suggest a turbulent family background and inner life, driven by forces he does not always understand or have a good grip on.
His Aquarius Moon and Saturn oppose an 8th house Leo North Node square Neptune in Scorpio. An 8th house North Node is similar to a Scorpio NN and tends to have extreme levels of possessiveness for money and people, low self-control for self-discipline – and can trip into sexual misadventures. Transformation for this Node is difficult until everything is let go and the individual learns to walk lightly and not look back.
At the moment tr Saturn is moving through his low profile First Quadrant which is a less successful time when banana skins often appear for the over ambitious – and unresolved psychological and emotional issues surface. His 4th house Venus in Aries also caught the April Solar Eclipse which usually brings an emotional crisis; and the May Lunar Eclipse was conjunct his Neptune, dragging secrets into the open.
Industry insiders say his career is finished for good. Astrologically he won’t emerge into a more progressive career patch for a few years. But his 8th house planets could give him the ability to make a successful businessman.
Despite being an Aries with an Aquarius Moon, the main drift of his chart is much more Plutonic.
ADD ON: Eamonn Homes, another daytime TV presenter, is putting the boot in with a vengeance in the aftermath, describing Scofield as a narcissist and spilling the beans about his nights out with his young lover. Holmes, 3 December 1959, is an outspoken Sun Jupiter in Sagittarius and that squares his Pluto giving it an extra punch. Plus he has a real sting-in-the-tail Mercury Mars in Scorpio.
Holmes’ Sun Jupiter square Pluto crashes into Scofield’s Pluto opposition Mars so it will be a clash of the mini-Titans. Their relationship chart has a seriously aggravated composite Saturn Mars Jupiter Mercury opposition Venus – a reservoir of dislike in there; with an evasive and disconnected composite Sun square Neptune.
Pots and kettles and point scoring – all a touch unprofessional and unseemly even if the tabloids and the punters lap it up.
Do you see Schofield being charged Marjorie? A number of media people have said they feel sure that he will be charged within weeks of his brother?
@ Gregory
What would he be charged with? Apart for running an inane sort of program designed to keep our short span level of attention engaged or for being a mixed up individual who has been able to use his talents in the vacuous media, did he have a duty of care towards the young person involved.
‘This Morning’ has got to be the worst TV programme in the world, an endless mind numbingly boring doom loop of cooking segments, vapid chattering, fashion segments, medical segments, soap opera segments etc etc etc repeated ad infinitum two and a half hours a day, five days a week forever and ever.
All this guff is punctuated at 5 minute intervals, by endless screaming self adverts for their ‘competition’, which in reality is an illegal lottery, since a £2 is needed to put in an absolutely facile answer.
My understanding is that all lotteries, raffles etc in the UK are illegal unless the money wagered is for a charitable cause. Apart from the odious practice of passing on dupes’ cash from their bank accounts straight to the shareholders of ITV PLC bank accounts, just what charity is ‘This Morning’ benefitting?
Why is this clear abuse and criminal action continuing? What is Ofcom doing? What are the Met. Police doing?
It stinks to high heaven.
Heavens! The vultures are gathering in force, knives to the fore! Eamonn Holmes is pulling no punches! Neither are others. How does his astrology with Philip Schofield stack up?
I’ve never watched the programme, not least because of Holly’s girly stuff and Philip’s cute little boy schtick. When I do make the occasional foray into morning television, I prefer Sally Nugent, who is very sparing with her smiles and whose body language usually denotes total disdain for her co-presenter, although she seems more comfortable with the current one than the last. Long may she reign!
Schofield has another Yod on his Aries Sun, with Neptune in Scorpio and Pluto in Virgo, involving the 3rd, 8th and 10th houses. I find Yods quite difficult to interpret but would assume a focal point Sun challenged by a strong 8th house Pluto and Neptune would be difficult to handle, ego-wise.
There are other sources that say the young man was quite a bit younger than that. Also PS is somewhat older than he claims. Which makes all this worse, as it points to grooming over a long period of time.
Roderick, I don’t personally think all gay men are paedophiles, but like straight men, they do have an unhealthy presence which tars everyone with the same brush. Anyone with a modicum of decency and self-preservation would have avoided the young man like the plague, especially when he has admitted to have always having had a crush on “This Morning’ presenter.
Interesting how ITV have dropped three top male presenters over the last few months, all of whom were born under the sign of Aries – Piers Morgan, Jeremy Clarkson and now Phillip Schofield.
He’s not having a great set of transits in recent times with Saturn over the Aquarius ones and Pluto square his Venus.
Just spotting that transiting Neptune is going over his Pisces Mercury which is exactly quincunx inconjunct his Leo Uranus. This admission of lying, allied to his realisation in his late 50s of being gay, hints that perhaps he has built himself up on self-deception. Noting also the Pisces Mercury and Aries Sun are in 3rd house – good for broadcasting and he has always come across as endearingly childish in his presenting.
What’s fascinating is reading the comments from your February 2020 post on Schofield. And sadly, more is likely to be revealed about how his bosses ‘managed’ things. Being gay isn’t criminal or immoral but a middle aged man supporting a 15 year old’s dreams of working in television which then turns into an affair when hired at ITV and then becoming the mentor’s lover…yeah well what do you expect when the romance is over. Sigh. I feel very sorry for the young man who has spent almost half his life emotionally tied to Schofield one way or another.
@Anita, unfortunately that Schofield’s relationship with that much younger man reinforces the stereotype that gay men being pedophiles. *sigh*
You say plutonic and if he did become friendly when the young man was in his teens it does seem an unequal power dynamic and give a bit of Hades/Persephone vibe. I wonder what Holly’s transits were around the time of the affair?
I thought the other year when they had that walk past the Queen’s sarcophagas that the writing was on the wall and they’d marked their cards then…..
Forgive my somewhat lapsed Catholic romanticism however behind the obvious scandal lurks ye olde spiritual crisis, the sex just took him to that point. Perhaps once the dust has settled, he will feel much freer despite the damage to everyone else around him. Poor Holly !