Holly Willoughby's relationship with Phillip Schofield broke down irretrievably after she discovered what his brother had told him about engaging in a sex act with a boy, MailOnline can reveal.
The extent of the former This Morning presenters' bitter feud has been exposed since Phil made his TV comeback in Channel 5 series Cast Away, in which he referred to Holly as 'one of the three s***s of showbiz'. The disgraced host has accused Holly of 'betrayal' after suggesting she helped to orchestrate his departure from the ITV show because they thought his brother's trial and Phillip's affair with a young showrunner were both bad for her 'brand'.
But MailOnline can reveal the real reason why Holly chose to cut ties with Phillip - she was outraged by the evidence from his brother's trial. Schofield had made a written statement to the court when his brother Timothy was accused of sexually abusing a vulnerable teenage boy. Holly was left 'flabbergasted' when the court heard what Phillip knew a month before his brother was arrested.
The abuse came to the attention of police when the victim confided in a counsellor who then reported what he had been told, triggering Timothy's arrest and subsequent 12-year jail sentence after he was found guilty in May last year. After his brother called him in an 'agitated and upset state', Phillip invited him to his home in London, where they spent several hours talking and ate a meal together in September 2021.
In a written statement, Schofield recalled for the court that his brother then raised the issue of sexual activity with the complainant. He said the defendant was 'in an extreme state of agitation' and 'as angry as I have ever seen him'. Timothy Schofield expressed suicidal thoughts but rejected the presenter's suggestions that he see his GP. 'Tim said he didn't want to take pills. At some point in the conversation Tim told me he was also impotent, and I responded that there were pills for that, too,' Mr Schofield said.
The statement added: 'I was washing up and Tim was standing behind me and he said: "You are going to hate me for what I am about to say." I said there was nothing he could say that would make me hate him. Then he said that he and [the boy] had time together and that last year they had watched porn … and [masturbated]. I turned and said: "What did you just say?" He said it was last year and "we were alone together". Tim said it was just this once. I told him it should never happen again.' When Holly read this statement during Timothy's trial in April last year she decided immediately she would never have anything more to do with him. A friend of Holly's told MailOnline: 'No matter their relationship and how close they were, Holly just could not move on from that. She saw Phillip in a totally different way - and did not want anything to do with him.'
