Phillip Schofield quit ITV last night after admitting to an affair with a much younger man – a week after he left This Morning and was pictured having a heart-to-heart talk with his mother.

Schofield, 61, was seen in Cornwall last Saturday confiding in his 85-year-old mother Pat, having fled to the county after news of his departure from the show became public.

The mother and son are ‘extremely close and he would have listened intently to her opinion’, a source told The Sun, after the presenter was spotted speaking with her for two hours in a car park.

In a dramatic fall from grace, Schofield has gone from the face of ITV’s flagship show for over 20 years to no longer having a talent agent, after he confessed he had lied to bosses about his relationship with a young member of staff.

It comes during what has been an extremely tough time for his mother, after her younger son, Timothy, was jailed for 12 years earlier this month for a string of child sex offences.

Phillip Schofield, 61, was seen in Cornwall last week confiding in his 85-year-old mother Pat, having fled to the county after news of his departure from This Morning became public

The mother and son are ‘extremely close and he would have listened intently to her opinion’, a source told The Sun

The family grew up in Newquay, Cornwall and Phillip has previously travelled the 300-mile journey from London to confide in his mother, who still lives there.

Back in 2020, while still married to his wife of 27 years Stephanie Lowe, Phillip revealed he had travelled down to Cornwall to come out as gay to his mother.

He described her ‘instant acceptance’ as he revealed he was gay to This Morning audiences, saying she had told him she ‘didn’t care’ about his sexuality.

The former This Morning host said at the time he felt relieved to have made the revelation but admitted it had caused ‘pain and upset’ and that he had to have ‘heartbreaking conversations’ with his wife and daughters.

He has since stood down from the show, and pictures last week showed him looking downcast as he spoke to his mother amid the fallout.

Pictured after his exit statement on Saturday, the veteran presenter looked tired and serious as he sat with his mother in the front of the vehicle.

He appeared to be conducting tense phone conversations and was seen vaping and staring out at the sea as his body language appeared dejected. 

Last night, Schofield revealed he had lied to his family and friends about an affair he had with a younger man who was working on his show and he met while in his teens.

Phillip Schofield appeared downcast and glum as he made phone calls the day after he was forced out from presenting This Morning on Friday

Troubled TV presenter Phillip Schofield sits in his car next to his mother, 85, in Cornwall

In a bombshell statement to the Daily Mail, the veteran TV presenter admitted that he and the man began a relationship that was more than a friendship. 

The shamed TV presenter described it as ‘unwise but not illegal’.

Schofield further confessed that he lied to his employer ITV, to his colleagues, his friends and his agents at the management firm YMU.

The bombshell revelation is not the only agony his family have had to face in recent weeks, with Schofield’s brother, Timothy, now facing over a decade behind bars.  

The conviction of the 54-year-old police IT technician for sexually abusing a teenage boy placed scrutiny on the relationship between the siblings.

It comes during what has been an extremely tough time for his mother, after her younger son, Timothy, was jailed for 12 years earlier this month for a string of child sex offences

Phillip told his brother’s trial that they did not have a close relationship because of their seven-year age gap and that he had left home when his brother was ten. 

Phillip said following the jury’s verdict: ‘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.’