Phillip Schofield returns to This Morning and addresses three-week absence after brother's sex abuse trial

Phillip Schofield has returned to This Morning for the first time since his brother was convicted of child sex abuse.

Hear the presenter address his absence below:

Timothy Schofield went on trial at Exeter Crown Court last month, after which he was convicted of 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019, including two of sexual activity with a child.

Timothy was remanded him in custody following the trial, and is set to be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on 19 May.

After three weeks off, Phil returned to the ITV show this morning (17 April), where he was joined by host Rochelle Humes as his regular co-star Holly Willoughby is off sick.

Phil acknowledged his absence at the beginning of the show, saying: "I'd just like to say, it is really lovely to be back. I have missed the show and everyone here and also to you.

"I wanted to say thank you for your kind messages and support which were really appreciated. Thank you very much indeed. On with the show... Shall we?"

ITV

Holly confirmed her absence from the show ahead of Phil's return today, telling her followers on Instagram that she has shingles.

"I'll be back as soon as I'm better," she wrote. "Huge love."

Holly hosted This Morning without Phil for a week before taking a two week break for the Easter holidays.

Phil's return today came after he issued a statement on his brother's behaviour at the time of the verdict, saying: "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.”

ITV

Timothy denied performing sexual acts on a teenager, but told the jury during the trial he had watched pornography with a boy who he insisted was over the age of 16.

The victim alleged the offending started when he was 13 years old, and told the jury he felt 'emotionally blackmailed' by Timothy and 'forced' to participate in sexual activity.

Timothy was found guilty on all counts by the jury with a majority of 10-2 after more than five-and-a-half hours of deliberation.

Topics: Phillip Schofield, ITV, This Morning

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is the Community Desk Lead at LADbible Group. Emily first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route. She went on to graduate with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University before contributing to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems. She joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features, and now works as Community Desk Lead to commission and write human interest stories from across the globe.