Phillip Schofield was seen puffing on an e-cigarette at a west London train station – despite a ban on all forms of smoking.
The former This Morning presenter, 62, puffed on a cigarette as he checked his phone while waiting for a train.
Phillip was dressed casually for the outing in a black jacket with matching trousers and a light gray polo shirt – and was still wearing his wedding ring.
Smoking has been banned in railway stations in England since July 2007. This includes station halls, ticket offices, platforms – both covered and uncovered – and footbridges and underpasses within station premises.
Smoking e-cigarettes is also prohibited. Those caught may be prosecuted and fined.
Phillip mostly kept to himself after his admission that he had an affair with a much younger female colleague.
But in recent weeks, he has slowly begun to make his way back into the public eye with a flurry of appearances.
He was snapped in London in early May looking relaxed as he laughed and joked with close friend Declan Donnelly and his wife Ali Astall.
He is said to have just enjoyed a four-hour dinner with the ITV golden boy at a restaurant near their homes when they were spotted in hysterics.
Phillip followed this up a few days later by ending a nearly year-long social media hiatus by lighting up his Instagram again with a sweet photo of Alfie watching Formula 1.
Daughters Ruby, 27, and Molly, 30, and This Morning co-host Josie Gibson competed to see who would like the post within minutes in a clear show of support.
And his beloved daughter Molly is now his publicist after leaving the talent agency that once represented her father.
PR guru Mark Borkowski says his lukewarm return to the public eye came after a year away to disappear and get himself together.
Describing him as a rare talent, Mr Borkowski said: “He is testing the waters. But the audience is very forgiving.’
Phillip told the BBC in an emotional interview last June that the affair ended his career and revealed the fallout had left him feeling suicidal.
He told how his two daughters – Molly and Ruby – saved his life and ‘watched over me and never let me out of their sight’.
During an interview with Amol Rajan, he admitted that he denied grooming the younger colleague, before telling critics: “Do you want me to die? Because that’s where I am.’
Phillip quit This Morning in a cloud of controversy after initially lying to bosses about an “unreasonable but not illegal” relationship with the runner, 34 years his junior.
An external review led by barrister Jane Mulcahy KC concluded that ITV made “considerable efforts” to establish the truth when rumors of the relationship began to circulate in 2019.
But repeated denials meant the broadcaster was unable to reveal the truth until Schofield confessed.
The fallout from the scandal led to the breakdown of his friendship with Holly Willoughby.
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After Phillip left the show in May, his co-host Holly Willoughby quit later in October over an alleged kidnapping plot.
The pair were officially replaced by Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley in March when the two took over the show full-time after a number of guest presenters rotated through the daytime slot.
In March, friends of the star said he was “pretty sure” he would never work again.
One said: ‘Phillip has been very, very down recently. He doesn’t know how it will work again. It’s devastating for him to realize, but he also knows there’s not much he can do about it. He doesn’t know who will marry him. He knows there is no going back to ITV or the BBC.’
Sources close to the star say his friends are trying to encourage him to think he can have a “fulfilling life” away from showbiz.
One said: ‘Just because he doesn’t have to be on TV anymore doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy life. Phil isn’t so sure though.’
But the star has been tipped for a job in national radio – his “first love” – ​​with Britain’s biggest commercial stations said to be battling to bring him new listeners from rivals including BBC Radio 2.