Holly Willoughby tearfully returns to This Morning, expressing feelings of being shaken, troubled, and let down byPhillip Schofield‘s deception regarding his affair with a younger colleague on the show.
The star, 42, hugged co-host Josie Gibson and held her hand as she said it ‘feels very strange indeed’ to be on the show without Schofield.
But in a brutal put down for Schofield, 61, she said that the This Morning team ‘gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth’. She referenced his young lover, who has left ITV and was last seen working in a pub, saying she was ‘worried for the wellbeing of people on all sides of what’s been going on’.
She also confirmed that she wanted to stay on the show amid rumours that her role could be under threat.
‘I hope that as we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, we can find strength in each other. And from my heart, can I just say thank you for all of your kind messages and thank you for being here this morning,’ she said.
‘Myself, Josie, Dermot (O’Leary), Alison (Hammond), Craig (Doyle), and every single person that works on this show will continue to work hard every single day to bring you that, this show that we love,’ she added.
Phillip Schofield has said he has “lost everything” and does not see a future for his career, in an emotional and frank interview with BBC News.
After fleeing waiting paparazzi outside his house, he sat down with Amol Rajan to tell his side of the story.
Schofield said his “career is over” following the affair he had with a young male colleague.
He said the pair were “not boyfriends” and they only had five or six romantic encounters over a few months.
However, Schofield said the affair “was a grave error”, adding: “I shouldn’t have done it.”
The TV presenter appeared exhausted and distressed, and spoke quietly as he said he was “desperately sorry”.
Questions have been raised about ITV’s handling of the situation, how much bosses knew of the affair, and whether its own investigation went far enough.
Following the controversy, Schofield said he doubted he would return to a career in TV. “I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart,” he said. “I have lost everything.
Image caption, Schofield told the BBC’s Amol Rajan homophobia was a factor in people disapproving of the relationship
“What am I going to do with my days?” he continued. “I see nothing ahead of me but blackness, and sadness, and regret, and remorse, and guilt. I did something very wrong, and then I lied about it consistently.”
Referring to his former colleague, the 61-year-old said: “He is an innocent party here. I was older, I should have known better. [The affair] was consensual, but it was my fault.”
In a detailed interview about the affair, Schofield told the BBC:
His colleague was 20 years old when he first had any kind of sexual contact with him
He has had suicidal thoughts, adding that his daughters “haven’t left me for a moment” since news of the affair broke
The first romantic encounter between Schofield and the man took place in his ITV dressing room
Schofield said homophobia was a factor in people who disapproved of their relationship, adding: “If it was male-female then it wouldn’t be such a scandal”
He added he understood people who thought there had been an abuse of power, but said it “didn’t feel like that at the time”
Schofield paid tribute to his daughters, who he said had helped him cope with suicidal thoughts in recent days.
“Last week, if my daughters hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “They’ve been by my side every moment because they’re scared to let me out of their sight.”
Schofield explained his first romantic encounter with his colleague took place in his dressing room, adding there were only five or six such encounters in total between the pair over a few months.
“I fully appreciate there is a massive age gap, but that happens in life. I think there is an enormous amount of homophobia that it happens to be male, but if it was male-female then it wouldn’t be such a scandal,” Schofield said.
Image caption, He said telling his wife Stephanie Lowe about the affair “was the most difficult conversation we’ve ever had”
His admission of the affair raised questions about the power balance between the pair and whether or not Schofield had taken advantage of his position.
“I understand that, and it’s a very valid question to put to me,” Schofield said. “If it’s an abuse of power, it’s not in my nature to be that person, but of course it could be perceived as that. But that wasn’t how it felt at the time.”
ITV has instructed a barrister to carry out an external review to establish the facts about how ITV handled its own investigation into rumours of the affair in 2020.
The network’s chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall has been asked to attend the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on 14 June to answer questions about the broadcaster’s approach to safeguarding following the controversy.
‘The lie got too big’
Schofield confirmed he first met the man – then a 15-year-old boy – when he was invited to appear as part of an event at a drama school many years ago.
He and the young man began communicating on Twitter after they followed each other following the event. Schofield said he asked for advice on working in the TV industry.
The presenter characterised their communication as a “completely innocent backwards-and-forwards over a period of time, about a job, about careers”.
“What’s wrong with that?” he asked. “What’s wrong with talking to someone no matter what age they are, does that mean if you’re following anyone on Twitter that you don’t give advice?”
He continued: “I’ve done it all my life. I’m best friends with the people who got me into television, and I’ve always believed in paying it forward, so I didn’t think about it.”
Schofield noted he follows 11,300 people on Twitter, which he no longer uses, and there had never been “any whiff of impropriety” during his time on the social media platform.
Image caption, Schofield and Holly Willoughby presented ITV’s This Morning and Dancing on Ice together before his departure
When the pair met in person for the first time since the drama school event, Schofield said there was “absolutely not” any hint of sexual attraction.
But Schofield said their interactions turned romantic “a few months” after the man began working on This Morning.
“We become mates,” Schofield said. “And, you know, you go around studios, you hang out together, you know, chat to each other, that sort of stuff.
“In my dressing room one day, something happened,” he said. Characterising the affair, Schofield said: “I kissed someone in the workplace, which led on to a little bit more.”
The TV presenter said he got the main jobs on other shows he worked on “because he was a very good runner, and it’s always nice to have a team around you of people that you know”.
He confirmed that his This Morning co-star Holly Willoughby “did not know” about the affair, adding: “Nobody knew.
“Rumours started, and then you lie. When you’ve had a workplace fling, you lie about it,” he said.
ITV previously said it investigated reports of a relationship, but that both parties had repeatedly denied it.
Image caption, He appeared exhausted in his emotional and frank interview with BBC News
Asked how much his colleagues knew, Schofield said: “Nobody ever asked me about being gay. When the rumour [about the affair] got bigger, then we were both asked.”
Asked if he loved his former colleague, Schofield said “No, we were just mates,” later adding: “We weren’t boyfriends, we weren’t in a relationship.”
The TV presenter added he “absolutely did not” make the man sign a non-disclosure agreement and said he would be free to speak to the media if he wanted to.
Schofield added that, contrary to some press reports, the man was not regularly taken by taxis between Schofield’s London home and the This Morning studios.
“He didn’t frequently come to my flat, he came to the flat once, to my recollection, he didn’t stay over,” he said.
Schofield also denied he had organised for the man to be moved off This Morning to work on another ITV daytime programme when their relationship ended.
“Absolutely categorically not – he was a really good colleague and runner, very good. He applied to go to [another ITV programme] and got the job entirely on his own merits,” he said.
Last week, Schofield went public about the affair, a decision he said he took because “the lie got too big for both of us”.
“It just got enormous, and it crossed over from online to mainstream news, and that had to stop, for his mental health,” he said.
Earlier this week, Schofield was dropped as an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust in light of the controversy, something the TV star said “broke my heart”.
Image caption, Schofield said being dropped as an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust earlier this week “broke my heart”
Asked how his former colleague feels now, Schofield said: “What he wants is for all of this [media coverage] to go away, he wants a quiet life, he didn’t want any of this to happen in the first place.”
Schofield said he last spoke to him “a couple of weeks ago” when he engaged legal support for him, which he is continuing to pay for.
The TV presenter said he was “massively concerned” for the welfare of his former colleague, who he described as “vulnerable”.
He denied reports that there is a toxic environment on This Morning, as well as claims that he had become too powerful or was unpleasant to work with. “I’m not rude on the studio floor, I don’t bully people,” he said.
Schofield also emphatically denied a claim that a newspaper had done a deal with him and his management in 2019, where the media outlet allegedly agreed not to write the story about the young man in return for the exclusive interview about him coming out as gay.
“Absolutely categorically untrue,” Schofield said, adding that he was encouraged to do an interview with the Sun by a media advisor as part of his announcement.
Schofield said telling his wife Stephanie Lowe about his affair “was the most difficult conversation I’ve ever had to have with her”.
He added: “She is extremely disappointed because I lied to her as well”.
Renowned singer, Loose Women panelist, and host of the award-winning Channel 5 series Cruising With Jane McDonald, Jane McDonald, has been announced as the new host of the upcoming British Soap Awards.
Taking place in Salford on Saturday, the event will be broadcast on ITV on Tuesday. McDonald will take over hosting duties following Phillip Schofield’s resignation from his presenting roles on the channel after his admission of an affair with a younger ITV staff member.
The prestigious soap awards will feature five popular dramas – Coronation Street, Doctors, EastEnders, Emmerdale, and Hollyoaks – competing for the top accolades.
“This year I’ve been honoured to be mentioned in Corrie, EastEnders and Emmerdale… I can’t wait to see all our wonderful soap nominees and celebrate all their hard work with them,” she added.
IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA Image caption, Phillip Schofield left his role on This Morning last week following reports of a rift with Holly Willoughby
Schofield, said last week: “I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family.
“I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.”
ITV has now asked a barrister to lead a review into its handling of a relationship between Schofield and his colleague.
The social media accounts associated with the This Morning show have maintained a low profile and refrained from posting since Phillip Schofield confessed to having an affair with a younger colleague.
Normally, these accounts provide daily updates on the program, but the This Morning TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages have been inactive since Friday.
The most recent post shared by all the accounts was a video snippet from an interview with supermodel Elle Macpherson.
However, later that day, Schofield released a statement admitting to his affair, expressing remorse.
While the official accounts have remained dormant, various moments involving Schofield and his former lover have surfaced on social media, attracting significant attention. One recent video that resurfaced showcased the two of them consuming whisky together on an episode of This Morning in 2016.
During the Christmas-themed segment, Schofield and co-host Holly Willoughby were trying out alternative advent calendars while Schofield’s lover – who worked as a runner on ITV – was in the background dressed as an elf.
After former Emmerdale actress Natalie Anderson showed them a whisky advent calendar worth £1,000, the hosts were quick to try out a bottle themselves.
With Schofield delighted by the ‘smooth’ drink, he turned to his festively dressed lover and asked, ‘Do you want some?!’
After the younger man took a sip, he joked: ‘Let’s get the elf smashed!’
The clip has resurfaced as ITV bosses face further questions about what they knew of Schofield’s affair with his colleague.
It has been claimed that the younger lover received a financial settlement from the broadcaster.
The Daily Mail has been told that he was given a payment following the end of the on-off relationship, which Schofield described as ‘unwise but not illegal’.
ITV has repeatedly declined to comment on the alleged pay-off or deny it.
There were no comments from a representative of the presenter, who quit the channel on Friday after he revealed to theDaily Mail that he had lied about the affair to our sister paper, The Mail on Sunday.
But a source claims that the money was handed to the man, who, after he declared his love for Schofield at an awards ceremony in January 2020, was shunted to another of the network’s daytime programmes, Loose Women.
He no longer works there.
Schofield and Ms Willoughby pretending to be hungover on This Morning on January 21, 2016
ITV insiders said that at some level, bosses must have known about any payment.
One added: ‘There have been numerous pay-offs at ITV and they have always had to be arranged and sanctioned by people of some seniority.’
The claims come as pressure has increased on the broadcaster’s chief executive, Dame Carolyn McCall, director of TV Kevin Lygo and head of daytime Emma Gormley to speak out about what they knew.
One source at the channel said: ‘This is unravelling fast and there is no evidence to suggest it will come to an end any time soon.
‘There are a lot of people out there who feel wronged by ITV and they now have the confidence to have their say.
‘The house of cards appears to be collapsing – it is anybody’s guess where this ends now.’
It comes after former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes accused ITV bosses of orchestrating a ‘total cover-up’ of Schofield’s affair with his younger lover, saying those in authority ‘had to know’ about the secret relationship.
The pair met when Schofield was in his 50s and giving a talk to a theatre school. At that time, his future lover was 15 and keen to make a career in the TV industry.
He moved down to London aged 18 and began working at This Morning, before striking up the secret relationship with the presenter.
In an interview on GB News on Monday evening, Holmes, labelled Schofield, 61, ‘chief narcissist’ who would ‘hit the town’ on Thursdays for ‘playtime’ with the young man.
He claimed Schofield’s lover would be ferried between the presenter’s central London flat and the TV studio in taxis paid for by the network.
Holmes said: ‘I didn’t know but I’ve subsequently found out from a very, very good source, because he would arrive much earlier in the morning than I would for the programme, that he was delivered from Phillip’s London home.
‘Usually on a Friday morning, because Thursday was playtime when he and Phillip would hit the town and then he obviously stayed overnight. There are records to show that he was brought in the next day separately in cars paid for by ITV.’
Asked whether the management would had to have known, Holmes replied: ‘Unless Phillip paid the bills separately, but it would still have to go through the accounts office that they would have seen that and known that.’
Holmes, 63, also claims he approached senior management who worked for Ms McCall to tell them about Schofield’s relationship with the young production assistant.
He said: ‘I had gone to the senior bosses at ITV, people who worked for Carolyn McCall, the chief executive in November 2019, with the story of Phillip having this inappropriate relationship with the young man, and had urged them to investigate because why, at the very least, would you not investigate?
‘I wasn’t saying that Phillip was guilty of anything. I was saying you should launch an investigation.’
Sources close to Schofield hit back at Holmes, saying: ‘If Eamonn Holmes wants to be that cruel to someone in Phillip’s position then that I think says more about Eamonn than Phillip.’
ITV is still refusing to give the Daily Mail any further detail of an investigation it insists took place. Sources close to the younger man say it did not ask him about the affair as part of any probe.
On Saturday, ITV released a statement which said ‘both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip’s then agency YMU’.
ITV will not say whether the investigation was independent and external or who conducted it and when.
The scandal is threatening to topple This Morning, the daytime programme which was launched in 1988 and hosted by Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan.
One source on the show said yesterday: ‘There are already conversations taking place between staff about how they are worried that things are going to have to change and where that leaves their jobs.
‘It is a deeply worrying time, but nobody is under the illusion that the show can stay the same. It has to be rebranded because so much trust has gone.’
In the second part of the interview, which was broadcast last night, Holmes agreed with MailOnline columnist Dan Wootton that if anyone questioned Ms McCall’s ‘woke narrative… they are out’.
ITV bosses are set to be questioned by MPs about the broadcaster’s handling of Schofield’s affair when they face the Commons culture committee next Tuesday.
Despite the ongoing scandal, Holly Willoughby will return to This Morning on Mondayfollowing an extended half-term break which was planned before the scandal broke.
A source told MailOnline Ms Willoughby will front the show on Monday as planned. She will be joined by Alison Hammond, according one report.
Based on recent revelation, after their relationship ended, ITV allegedly gave money to the young runner Phillip Schofield had an affair with.
ITV is said to have ‘paid off’ the young runner Phillip Schofield sensationally admitted to lying about having an affair with.
Following his admission that he had lied about having an affair with a considerably younger guy who worked as a runner on the show, former This Morning host Schofield, 61, quit the programme earlier this month and ultimately left ITV altogether.
The unnamed teenage runner was 15 when they first met, according to Schofield, who also claimed that the “unwise but legal” relationship started after the runner reached 18.
This Morning has been in chaos since the bombshell confession, with Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary filling in for Schofield and Holly Willoughby, who is reportedly set to return to the sofa next week.
Former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes has since done a tell-all interview with GB News claiming rumours about the relationship were rife, while former This Morning regular Dr Ranj Singh has also spoken out about the ‘toxic’ feeling on set.
Now the Daily Mail is reporting that the young man who Schofield admitted an affair with was given a payment by ITV at the end of his relationship with the presenter.
Former This Morning presenter Schofield admitted to lying about the affair earlier this month (Picture: ITV)
The man had been moved from This Morning to Loose Women after his relationship with the presenter reportedly soured, which Holmes had said was a ‘promotion’ he had not asked for.
According to the outlet, sources have claimed the runner was given a financial settlement from the broadcaster, which ITV have reportedly refused on numberous occasions to comment on or deny.
An insider reportedly claimed someone senior at ITV must have known about the payment as it required ‘people of some seniority’ to sign off it.
A source claimed a person of some seniority would have had to sign off on any payment (Picture: ITV/Rex/Shutterstock)
It comes after Holmes’ late-night interview on Monday with GB News’ Dan Wootton, where he called for the ‘unprecedented’ promotion of the runner to be investigated, particularly ‘who authorised it.’
Holmes claimed he heard from a reliable source that the runner would arrive via taxi from Schofield’s home on Friday mornings after they went out on Thursday nights.
Holmes went on to claim the young man was ‘in a bad way’ and he and Holmes’ wife Ruth Langsford kept an eye on him, but he ‘never admitted’ any sort of relationship with Schofield but he would ‘phone often’ for ‘comfort’.
‘We never intruded, we just asked if he was okay, and we were here if he needed support. He felt alone and no one was looking after him. But there was press pressure on him.’
He claimed there was an ‘overriding, more than suspicion’ on what was going on, and accused ITV of a ‘total cover-up’ as he claimed the ‘thorough investigation’ involved simply asking both men if they were in a relationship, which they denied, and then moved on.
Phillip Schofield statement in full
‘I am making this statement via the Daily Mail to whom I have already apologised personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story which they wanted to write about me a few days ago.
‘The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning. I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning.
‘Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over.
‘When I chose to come out I did so entirely for my own wellbeing. Nobody “forced” me out. Neither I nor anyone else, to my knowledge, has ever issued an injunction, super or otherwise, about my relationship with this colleague, he was never moved on or sacked by or because of me. In an effort to protect my ex-colleague I haven’t been truthful about the relationship.
‘But my recent, unrelated, departure from This Morning fuelled speculation and raised questions which have been impacting him, so for his sake it is important for me to be honest now.
‘I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.
‘I have therefore decided to step down from the British Soap Awards, my last public commitment, and am resigning from ITV with immediate effect expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me.
‘I will reflect on my very bad judgment in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it. To protect his privacy, I am not naming this individual and my deepest wish is that both he and his family can now move on with their lives free from further intrusion, and that this statement will enable them to do so.
‘I ask the media now to respect their privacy. They have done nothing wrong, and I ask that their privacy should be respected.’
ITV has assured that This Morning will proceed as scheduled on Monday, and there are “no plans” to cancel the show.”
This is in response to inquiries regarding Phillip Schofield’s involvement in an affair with a younger male colleague.
In a statement on Friday, Schofield acknowledged his relationship with an employee during his marriage and admitted to repeatedly lying to conceal it. He resigned from ITV, describing the relationship as “unwise but not illegal.”
ITV stated that it had conducted an investigation in 2020 but discovered no substantiated evidence of the affair beyond mere “rumor.”
ITV further stated that both Schofield and the junior colleague had vehemently and consistently denied the rumors at the time.
In a confirmation to the BBC on Sunday, legal representatives representing Schofield acknowledged that the two individuals had initially met when the junior colleague was a 15-year-old boy. However, they emphasized that there was no sexual relationship between Schofield and the individual until after the latter had commenced working at This Morning. By that time, the individual had reached the age of 18.
According to The Mail on Sunday, the initial encounter between the presenter and the 15-year-old occurred when Schofield delivered a talk at a theatre school attended by the teenager.
Subsequently, Schofield facilitated an interview for the individual at ITV before their employment began, and the affair allegedly commenced “some time afterwards,” as reported by the newspaper.
ITV bosses have been facing questions about whether the programme can survive the scandal.
Former ITV daytime figures, such as Eamonn Holmes and Dan Wootton, said confirmation of the affair raised questions about how much the network’s managers knew about the relationship.
An ITV spokesperson said on Sunday: “As we said on the record yesterday, This Morning is not under review and there’s no plans for the show to be axed.”
They confirmed it would return as normal on Monday, with Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary presenting.
ITV did not respond to the BBC when asked about a report in the Sunday People that some daytime staff were planning to go to HR next week to threaten a mass walkout over a series of “ignored complaints”.
Meanwhile Dr Ranj Singh, who worked for This Morning for a decade, criticised the “toxic” culture at the programme, saying the issues “go far beyond” Schofield.
He said he last worked on the show two years ago, having found himself used “less and less” after raising concerns about how people were being treated there.
Speaking on Twitter, he said he “did not know the truth about what was going on with Phillip”, but added: “It takes more than one person to create a culture.”
On Sunday evening, ITV responded saying it was sorry to read the post. It added that after a complaint from Dr Ranj there had been an external review which “found no evidence of bullying or discrimination”.
Schofield had already quit This Morning last weekend after reports of a rift with co-star Holly Willoughby. Schofield has insisted his departure was unrelated to the affair.
She said on Saturday it was “very hurtful” to discover her former co-host had lied to her about his affair.
“When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not,” she said.
Willoughby is on an “extended half term break” until 5 June.
The sexual abuse of a teenage boy over a three-year period was found to be committed by Timothy Schofield, the brother of This Morning host Phillip Schofield, at Exeter Crown Court.
At the courthouse, Schofield was on trial for 11 sexual offenses against children, including two counts of engaging in sexual conduct with a child, that occurred between October 2016 and October 2019.
In his testimony before the jury, the 54-year-old civilian police officer from Bath said that he had watched porn with the youngster, who he insisted was older than 16 at the time, and that they had masturbated while sitting apart, but he denied having intercourse with the teenager.
He is said to have told his TV star brother about some of the alleged offending in September 2021.
Following the verdict, Phillip issued a statement condemning the actions of his brother in which he said: ‘As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother.’
The jury at Exeter Crown Court found him guilty of all counts with a majority of 10-2 after more than five-and-a-half hours of deliberation.
He denied the charges but 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.
Last Monday, Phillip’s younger brother arrived at court for the beginning of proceedings wearing a grey shirt.
He was reported to have been seen shaking his head as the charges were read out to him.
Jurors heard that the younger Schofield was eventually confronted by the alleged victim in 2021.
On Friday, the jury heard closing speeches from the barrister representing the Crown and Schofield’s lawyer.
Robin Shellard, prosecuting, said: ‘There are good reasons why society – and we here are all part of this society and the law which is founded because of society – treats those under 18 and those under 16 not as full adults.
‘Society tries to protect children from adults who want to abuse them and tries to protect children from themselves.
‘We are not dealing with morals but criminal abuse against a child’.
During his evidence, Schofield said the watching of pornography and the masturbation began after the boy turned 16.
Robin told the jury: ‘The question you must ask yourself, was this going on for some 18 months when he was just past his 16th birthday and finished by August 2021?
‘Or was this going on for longer and quite deliberately?’
The lawyer continued and said the evidence from the boy was that the abuse started when he was 13 and the barrister suggested the account was ‘restrained’.
Peter Binder, defending, said that in a court of public morals Schofield would be guilty of the gravest of crimes.
‘Cases like this often expose a strong emotional response in the listener and it can be natural to have sympathy for the complainant and it is natural to have strong feelings of antipathy towards the accused’, he said.
‘By the end of all the evidence in this case and after all you heard, there may be some of your number who may be forgiven for hating him too.
‘In a court of public morals, Timothy Schofield would be guilty of the most serious crimes, and yet, members of the jury, matters of themselves do not make him guilty of these offences.
‘This is a court of law and not a court of public morals, and its entirely proper, due to the oaths and affirmations you have taken, to put aside all your feelings of antipathy and revulsion you feel towards the defendant and try this case and these charges on the evidence.
‘You must be utterly dispassionate.
‘This case boils down one person’s word – that of the boy – against the other – that of the defendant’.
He has been remanded in custody ahead of sentencing at Bristol Crown Court on May 19.
After the verdict, an NSPCC spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘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.
‘It is so important that those who have experienced abuse are empowered to speak out, and that members of the public feel equally empowered to talk to someone if they are worried about a young person, no matter who they are or when it happened.
‘Adults who are concerned about a child can speak to a trained child protection specialist at the NSPCC Helpline at help@nspcc.org.uk, while Childline is there for young people on 0800 1111 or www.childline.org.uk.
‘We would also encourage everyone and anyone to take the NSPCC’s free 10 minute training, ‘Listen Up, Speak Up’ available on our website, to know what to do if a child needs help, and where to go if you need support yourself.
‘That little bit of knowledge can help keep a lot of children safe’.
IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA Image caption, Phillip Schofield left his role on This Morning last week following reports of a rift with Holly Willoughby
