WHEN presenter Phillip Schofield failed to take his place on the iconic This Morning sofa last week, fans were left scratching their heads
The ever chirpy star and his co-presenter Holly Willoughby usually inform viewers if they are taking a break but this time there was no warning from Phil.
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Instead fans switched on to see Alison Hammond co-star with Holly who joked: “Phillip is having the week off so all the adults have left the building.”
Holly’s jovial manner hid the real reason for Phil’s absence, which only emerged hours later. His brother Timothy was in court accused of abusing a teenage boy – and the TV host’s written statement formed part of the prosecution case.
After his sibling was yesterday convicted of 11 sexual offences involving a child over three years from October 2016, including two of sexual activity, Phil released a statement saying: “As far as I’m concerned I no longer have a brother.”
Sources told the Daily Mail that very few people on the ITV set were aware of Timothy Schofield’s upcoming court case and executives kept it from floor staff.
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His absence was so hush hush that production staff only found out when they noticed no cars had been booked to transport Schofield from his home to the West London studio for the entire week.
PR expert James Herring said it would not have been easy to keep colleagues in the dark.
He said: “Clearly it’s been a very difficult situation for This Morning and everybody at ITV.
“The whole thing must have been incredibly complex and very tricky to manage.
“It’s a worst nightmare, especially if you’re presenting a daily live television show. It’s a different scenario if it’s a scripted drama due to go out at an allotted time.
“When a family member becomes involved in scandal, some of that impacts the TV presenter concerned.
“It’s an unfair situation as Phillip has not done anything wrong. He’s been dragged into this by association.
“I’m sure it’s been very difficult to lock down a story like this in a TV environment where everything is quite gossipy and people chat.
“ You’ve also got the public hitting social media and making comments so it’s impossible to hide something like this. Impossible.
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“I think it speaks a lot for the loyalty of his production team that it took a while for the story to surface.”
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Phil is now repotedly taking a two week break from This Morning over Easter and ITV producers face the tricky question of whether he should mention his brother on his return.
James said: “ITV say Schofield is on planned leave which is entirely feasible because it’s Easter and lots of DJ’s and presenters take this time off.
“When he returns he is under no obligation to mention what has happened.
“He doesn’t owe anything to viewers because he’s released a public statement that makes his feelings clear.
“He’s said how he feels about his brother and has distanced himself from him. What else is left to be said? I think he probably now considers the matter closed.”
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Holly took to Instagram to praise close pal Schofield’s replacements last week, Alison Hammond and Masked Singer host Joel Dommett.
On Saturday Phil celebrated his 61st birthday and This Morning posted a celebratory message on its Instagram with pictures of Schofe with co-stars, including Alison and Holly.
The show has been hit by a series of scandals over the past year.
A man has been arrested after Alison Hammond, 48, claimed she was being blackmailed in a sinister extortion plot.
The presenter called police after the man allegedly threatened to spread lies about her if she didn’t hand over large sums of money.
Last September Phil and Holly were caught up in controversy after using press passes to jump the queue to see the Queen lying in state.
In what became known as ‘Queuegate’ Holly defended the move on This Morning and Phil is said to have claimed he was being unfairly targeted. Bosses insisted there was no wrongdoing.
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