IT’S almost a year since Phillip Schofield’s world imploded.

He “quit” ITV, concerned the headlines surrounding him were detracting from his 21-year tenure on This Morning, the show he loved like no other.

Phillip Schofield shares a laugh with showbiz pal Declan DonnellyCredit: Click News and Media

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Phil and Holly Willoughby on This MorningCredit: Pixel8000
Except, of course, he didn’t quit — he was unceremoniously axed by his paymasters at ITV.

The intervening months have told Phil all he needed to know about showbiz.

Some people, those he thought were mates for life, dropped him quicker than you can say “Gordon the Gopher”. (I know who they are but he’d metaphorically kill me for printing).

Others, such as like Declan Donnelly, Alison Hammond, Richard Madeley, James Corden, and Jeremy Clarkson, have all stayed in touch, offering support.

Showbusiness is a fickle beast; many of the people in it faker than Holly Willoughby’s Dancing on Ice tan.

Is this public show of support from Dec the first sign that Phil could be considering a gentle foray back into public life?

Phillip remains a shell of the man I first met for lunch four years ago.

Where he was once confident, assured, seemingly untouchable — and sure, he rubbed some people up the wrong way — today he is shy, frustrated, ­nervous to leave the house.

This Morning’s viewing figures have slumped to the lowest since Holly Willoughby announced she was following Philip Schofield out of the door
I’m told his name has been mooted for a couple of national radio shows — perhaps an ideal toe-in-the-water return for the star, once the golden boy of daytime telly.

Perhaps now, with his mates by his side, he can go back to living.