Terry Prone: Phillip Schofield's interview was a win for BBC, but not for him 

The very fact the interview took place at all hammers home the oft-ignored reality that those who make their living from media always overestimate their capacity to manage the beast

Phillip Schofield was well prepared and focused. He explained away his following of a teenage boy on Twitter by stating he follows 11,300 people on Twitter and claiming there’s never been a whisper of impropriety about it. 

What a BBC coup. Phillip Schofield in funereal garb, white in the face, breaking his silence. Not that his silence had been that longstanding — just a few days earlier, he’d posted a waspish social media riposte to criticisms. But he hadn’t talked in person. 

The BBC beat everybody else and had the scoop of the year. Their gain is obvious. Less obvious is what Schofield’s objective was, although his stated goal was to get media to leave the young man alone.