Phillip Schofield is set to return to This Morning in two weeks

Phillip Schofield is set to return to This Morning in around two weeks’ time – after his brother was convicted of sexually abusing a teenage boy

• ITV presenter said ‘I no longer have a brother’ last night after sibling convicted

Phillip Schofield is set to be back on This Morning in around two weeks after his brother was found guilty of molesting a teenage boy – despite his friends having feared he could never return to TV. 

The ITV presenter, 61, said ‘I no longer have a brother’ last night as his sibling was found guilty of molesting the schoolboy for three years. He ‘welcomed’ the guilty verdicts and said Timothy Schofield, 54, had committed ‘despicable crimes’. 

ITV said yesterday that Schofield will return to This Morning after the Easter holidays.

‘Phillip is a much loved member of our team and we wanted to make sure we supported him,’ a source at the channel told the Mail. ‘We are so happy he will be back where he belongs.’ 

Understandably, friends of the star are still worried about him – some were so shocked by what happened that they believed Phillip might retreat from our screens forever.

Phillip Schofield with Holly Willoughby on This Morning on March 23, 2023 

Timothy Schofield told his TV star brother in September 2021 that he performed a sex act with the boy ‘that last year’, according to a witness statement Phillip gave to the court 

‘Can you imagine what he has been through, it is just so awful to see and hear it all come out,’ said one. ‘It was a concern that he might not want to put himself out there again. He must be going through so many devastating emotions right now.’ 

It comes as the television star faced questions over whether he should have done more.

Schofield turned up at Phillip’s home ‘ranting and raving’ before confessing that he had performed a sex act with the victim.

REVEALED: How Phil hid the pain of his brother’s looming sex trial  

He said it had happened just once and the celebrity understood the victim was over the age of consent at the time so told him: ‘It must never happen again’.

He gave a police statement detailing the conversation on December 17, 2021 – two weeks after his brother’s arrest and over three months after the chat took place on September 12, 2021.

The statement was accepted by the prosecution and defence which meant that Phillip was not called to give evidence and his statement was read to the court.

Nazir Afzal, who prosecuted the Rochdale grooming gangs, told the Mail he felt Phillip ‘had a duty’ to probe his younger sibling more.

‘The fact they think they have done something wrong, it falls to you to quickly act on what you have been told.’

Dressed in a grey shirt, Schofield, of Bath, bowed his head as the jury found him guilty of all 11 counts by a majority of ten to two on each at Exeter Crown Court.

They took just five hours and 41 minutes to convict the police IT technician of causing the victim to watch sex acts, engage in sex acts, and perform sex acts in front of the boy.

Timothy Schofield was convicted of 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019

A statement released by Phillip Schofield following his brother’s conviction today 

Phillip Schofield pictured last week after taking time off work as his brother, Timothy, was in court 

Minutes after the verdict, Phillip, 61, posted on Instagram: ‘My overwhelming concern is and has always been for the wellbeing of the victim and his family. I hope that their privacy will now be respected.

‘If any crime had ever been confessed to me by my brother, I would have acted immediately to protect the victim and their family.”

‘These are despicable crimes, and I welcome the guilty verdicts. As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother.’

Inside Phillip Schofield and his brother’s relationship

The boy told how he had felt ‘emotionally blackmailed’ and ‘forced’ to participate in sexual activity from when he was a young teenager.

He bided his time until he had the ‘physical advantage’ before confronting his abuser in August 2021 when he told the paedophile: ‘It’s never going to happen again’.

Schofield called Phillip the following month saying he was suicidal before driving to his London home ‘in a state of heightened agitation’.

After switching between being ‘furiously angry’ and bursting into tears, the sex offender then told Phillip over the washing up that he had masturbated and watched pornography with the boy.

The celebrity turned and asked: ‘What did you say?’ His sibling then claimed was ‘just this time’ prompting the TV host to tell him ‘it should never happen again’.

But in his statement he makes no mention of asking for more details or clarifying whether anything had happened when the victim was younger.

Instead he just told him to ‘stop’ when he started to describe the boy’s body.

Timothy Schofield – seen leaving court earlier in the trial – was convicted of all charges 

A photo of the Schofield brothers enjoying a day out with their mother

Sentencing was adjourned while a file is compiled on Schofield’s mental health. He was repeatedly accused of ‘playing the victim’ by prosecutors during the trial.

At one point last week he did not appear in court as he collapsed ‘in a crisis’.

Schofield is due to be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on May 19.

Avon and Somerset Police, where Schofield was employed, said a misconduct hearing will be held “as soon as possible”. The IT worker was suspended in December 2021.

Detective Inspector Keith Smith said: ‘This defendant has exploited and abused the victim by carrying out a sickening series of offences over a significant period of time.

‘Although the defendant does not work in a public-facing role, and the offences are not linked to his employment, we know the fact he works for the police will be a matter of public concern.’

An NSPCC spokesman said: ‘Child sexual abuse can have devastating and long-lasting impact on a person’s life and Timothy Schofield’s actions were deeply harmful. We hope that the young man he targeted is receiving all the support he needs to move forward with his life.’

The NSPCC urged adults who are concerned about a child to contact [email protected] and young people to call Childline on 0800 1111.

Schofield (seen on the left with his head covered next to another man) was convicted of three counts of causing a child to watch sexual activity, three of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, three of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, and two of sexual activity with a child 

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