Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby reunited on ITV's This Morning today after rumours of an apparent rift between the two.
The TV star has been no stranger to the public eye in recent years as the star of This Morning has publicly dealt with the breakdown of his own marriage and now the conviction of his brother.
Phillip and Holly, who had been close friends for 17 years and have been on family holidays together, are said to be "barely speaking" off camera. It comes as Phillip released a statement last week describing his co-star as his "rock" but confessed that the "the last few weeks haven't been easy for either of us".
The statement reportedly came as a surprise to Holly and made the situation worse on the show he has hosted since 2002. The pair's friendship is now seemingly on the rocks even after their close bond saw Holly publicly support Phillip when he revealed his sexuality to the world in 2020.
Here we take a closer look back at Schofield's personal life over recent years including the breakdown of his marriage after he came out and a reported feud with Amanda Holden.
Coming out
The ITV's This Morning host shocked the nation when he made the brave decision to come out as gay in February 2020.
The TV star shares two daughters, Molly, 28, and Ruby, 26, with his wife Stephanie whom he had been married to for 27 years when he made his announcement.
The 59-year-old presenter revealed his sexuality to his 2.7 million Instagram followers in a heartfelt post which read: "You never know what’s going on in someone's seemingly perfect life, what issues they are struggling with, or the state of their wellbeing – and so you won't know what has been consuming me for the last few years.
"With the strength and support of my wife and my daughters, I have been coming to terms with the fact that I am gay."
Schofield then appeared on This Morning where he was interviewed by his co-star and close pal, Holly Willoughby and revealed his truth to the world on live television.
The 42-year-old praised her dear friend for his honesty as she uploaded a picture of the two of them with the caption: "Never been more proud of my friend than I am today."
The father-of-two acknowledged that he was "very conscious" of the "hurt", "pain" and "upset" that he had caused his family but three years on, Schofield still shares a very close relationship with his wife and children who are very supportive of him.
Despite his brave decision, Schofield received some public backlash after he publicly announced the news. He defended himself in autobiography Life is What You Make It as he insisted that he "didn't know" he was gay when he got married and wouldn't have done so if he had known.
Phillip and Stephanie are currently still married as the TV star admitted to Chris Evans on his podcast How to Wow that the pair have "not discussed divorce at all".
Brother's sex abuse scandal
Phillip has found himself back in the spotlight after his brother Timothy Schofield, 54, was found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage boy over the course of three years.
The former police officer was convicted with 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019 , including two of sexual activity with a child, following a trial at Exeter Crown Court.
Speaking of his brother's conviction last month, Schofield said: "As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother." The TV star branded his sibling's actions as 'despicable' and said he welcomes the 'guilty verdicts'.
Phillip also insisted in his statement that he had no prior knowledge about his brother's sex crimes and said that if he had ever confessed to him, he would have "acted immediately to protect the victim and their family".
Schofield denied performing any sex acts on the teenager but told the jury he had watched pornography with the boy who he claimed was over 16 at the time and they had masturbated while sitting apart.
However, the civilian police officer also testified that he had told Philip about this encounter in September 2021.
Phillip provided a written statement to the court which confirmed his sibling had informed him about it but argued he "made it sound like a one-off" and that he told him "it must never happen again".
After last year's queue skipping scandal, the duo who were once inseparable are now rumoured to 'barely speak' off camera as Schofield recently acknowledged that "the last few weeks haven't been easy" but insists that they're still "the best of friends".
According to the Mirror, insiders have claimed that Phillip is now fighting to keep his job on ITV after he publicly addressed his apparent rift with Willoughby which sources say neither she or the station knew about.
Feud with Amanda Holden and 'queue skipping' backlash
It's not the first time that Schofield has gotten into a tiff with another co-star after he famously fell out with BGT judge Amanda Holden.
The English media personality stepped into Holly Willoughby's shoes on This Morning for a year while she took time off to have her third baby in 2014.
However, in 2019 when Holly fell ill and was unable to co host the show, it was reported that Holden alleged that she lost the opportunity to host This Morning because of Phillip with the gig being handed to Rochelle Humes instead.
A former daytime executive reportedly told the Sun: "Phillip actively campaigned for Rochelle Humes to get the job despite Amanda being more experienced — and having been told privately she’d got the gig."
However, an ITV spokesperson at the time shut down the "malicious" rumours and said the decision was made by the producers and not the presenters.
Holden seemed to make a sly dig at Schofield and Willoughby who received huge public backlash for their alleged queue-skipping last year to see the Queen lying in state.
The co-hosts vehemently denied the rumours that they jumped ahead of the crowds to see the Queen's coffin but as fans raged at the viral social media clip which showed them being led past a huge queue of people.
Holden seemed to join in on the backlash as she made her feelings clear during her Heart Breakfast show.
Amanda's co-host Ashley Roberts, 41, can be heard saying on the programme: "So David Beckham has landed a seven-figure deal with Qatar's World Cup sponsor, Doritos. I love Doritos. I'd love a seven-figure deal.
Amanda replies with a subtle dig towards Schofield: "Get in line. Well, I mean he did get in line. Good on him."
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