Holly Willoughby was overcome with emotion and burst into tears on Sunday evening when Phillip Schofield hugged crew at Dancing On Ice after coming out as gay.
Ahead of the skating show Phillip halted rehearsals to address the “elephant in the room” following his brave announcement on Friday.
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Pro skater Matt Evers has lifted the lid on what happened behind the scenes that day, telling Heart.co.uk: “It was a really nice atmosphere in the studio.
“I think at one point in rehearsals he kind of stopped production and said ‘OK I just need to say this, I don’t want to be the elephant in the room anymore, if you want to give me a hug, give me a hug’.
“He was very sensitive to the viewers at home as well and he kinda wanted to get that out in dress rehearsal before we were live and it was a really nice moment.”
Matt continued: “Holly teared up and there was about five or six of us that were stood around at him at that point and we just all kind of gave him a hug and said ‘do you know what, you’re gonna be fine’.”
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He added: “Anybody that goes through that at whatever point in their life, when you start living your real truth, you just become more of a loving person, and not that he wasn’t loving previously but there’s a weight that is lifted off of your shoulders.”
On Friday Phillip, 57, revealed he is gay in a moving Instagram post before an emotional appearance on This Morning with Holly Willoughby.
Phillip has been married to wife Steph for more than 20 years and they have two daughters – Molly and Ruby.
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His wife has vowed to stand by him, telling The Sun: “I love Phillip, as much today as I ever have, and always will.
“We’ve been awestruck by the strength and love of our precious girls, even as they’ve been trying to make sense of it all for themselves.
“Our family have also been so supportive and will help us going forward.”
She added: “Although this is difficult for us all, I support Phillip in taking this brave step.”
