John Barrowman says 'only Holly Willoughby and Phil Schofield reached out to me' after scandal destroyed his career
It was quite a career fall from grace for John Barrowman in 2021 after three decades on UK TV. The Scottish-born actor and singer went from Doctor Who and Torchwood star and Dancing on Ice judge, to rarely appearing on the telly. Now, in a tell-all interview with WalesOnline which you can read here, John has revealed Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were among the few celebrities who offered him support.
He was, in his words, “blackballed” after accusations of flashing on the set of Doctor Who. After the accusations came to a head in 2021, John has struggled to get any work since. He's currently promoting his tour, Laid Bare, on which he is visiting several venues in Wales.
Now, talking about that time, John has revealed only three celebrities reached out to him. He said: "What was upsetting at the time when I left Dancing On Ice was only Ashley Banjo and Holly and Phil reached out to me at the time.
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"No one else did. There is a double standard in the industry which needs to be addressed I feel. I don’t think I’ll ever be at peace because I don’t think I deserved what happened to me.
"But I’m content with where I am at. I've seen a therapist. I've done everything I needed to but what I’ll never get over is how people turned their backs on me because I’m loyal." For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter.
John also said that while he is upset about how he was treated, you can read here about his disgust at the Doctor Who and Torchwood cast and crew here, he is not bitter. He said: "I’m not bitter. Bitter is very different to upset. I’m upset about what happened. I’m still a big fan of Doctor Who.
"I love watching it and I enjoy Torchwood too. That’ll never change because of what happened. I can still watch Dancing On Ice. I’m good friends with Colin Grafton and I loved watching The Vivienne."
There are still tickets available for Laid Bare, perhaps owing to Barrowman’s dwindled reputation, but he says those there will see a side to him they’ve never seen before. “Wales means a great deal to me and I’m really excited to be coming back,” he says. “I do feel like I’ve kind of been adopted by Wales. My father-in-law served in St Athan just outside Cardiff so when we started filming there with Doctor Who and Torchwood I knew about the area and we were drawn to it. My husband’s family own land too in the Gower and we have our home in Sully on the coast which we are renovating at the moment because we want to start using that more in the summers.
“For Laid Bare I really wanted to get around Wales and do some of the regional theatres and feel closer to the audience. Laid Bare is exactly that – we’re stripping it back. You’re going to be entertained, going to learn things about me you might not expect me to talk about. I think it will catch people by surprise a little bit. In the tradition of what I was brought up with in musical theatre when I can’t speak anymore I add a song to it which then helps express how I feel. It’s sort of stand-up with music. But it’s a bit of everything really. There is a question and answer session with the audience and they can ask anything they want to ask. I’ve had the most frivolous to really the hardest questions but I’ll answer them all.”
