Heartbroken Phillip Schofield's bond with late mum who was always there for him
Phillip Schofield announced his mum Pat died on Monday
Phillip Schofield was always close to his mum Pat, and leaned on her over the years but especially in his darkest of hours.
The former This Morning host, who recently returned to TV with Cast Away, was heartbroken to reveal his mum Pat had died aged 88 on Monday.
Announcing the news, the 62-year-old wrote on Instagram: "Today, at 3pm and after a heartbreaking weekend, my magnificent mum decided it was time to go to her beloved Brian. Over three days, we held her, loved her, hugged her and said everything that needed to be said. She was calm, peaceful, beautiful and dignified. I’ll forever be proud and privileged she was my mum. I love you mum, forever."
As Schofield's high-flying career crumbled and his popularity nosedived over the This Morning scandal last year, it was his mum Pat who remained by his side as well as his wife Stephanie and their two daughters Ruby and Molly.
Pat's unconditional love and support for her son never wavered over the years.
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‘Heartbroken’ Phillip Schofield announces death of ‘beautiful and dignified’ mother (The Independent, 2-min read)
Coming out as gay
When Schofield came out as gay in 2020, he made a special visit to his mum in Cornwall before going public with the news to tell her and she applauded him. In a show of support, she told him: "I don't care."
Schofield praised his mum for being there for him. He said: "She's been on the phone all morning - 'hope you're ok' - you know - 'thinking of you' - and I went down to see her, she's in Cornwall, and I went down to see her and I told her and she said, 'Oh, ok - well, I don't care'. And it's been the same with everyone."
His mum publicly praised her son as "brave" and "inspiring" for coming out, although at the time she admitted it was a "shock".
Pat told The Mirror at the time: "For him to be so brave in front of so many people was inspiring, because I know how hard it was for him to do. I love Steph and the girls more than anything in the world and I will always be there for them.
"When Phillip drove to Cornwall to tell me, the first thing I said was, 'I don't care'. Yes it was a shock, but nothing as a family that we can't support and applaud."
No one could have predicted the hardships the family would face three years later.
Darkest of times
It was his mum Pat who he turned to in his darkest hours when he stepped down from This Morning last year.
Initially Schofield had made the 280-mile journey from London to Cornwall support his mum as her son and his brother Timothy was sentenced that day to 12 years in jail for sexually abusing a child. Only on the same day the presenter received bad news about his own career.
While he was in Cornwall to support his mum, Schofield received the call from his boss on This Morning telling him to step down from his job at This Morning over his "unwise but not illegal affair" with a younger male colleague. His mum Pat was a pillar of support to him.
The former daytime presenter was seen comforting his mum on a bench overlooking the ocean at Pentire Headland on a cliff in Newquay, Cornwall. They had just got fish and chips, a family tradition of theirs. The Sun who obtained the photos said they were taken on Friday 19 May.
Schofield told The Sun of the moment: "I had to go down to Cornwall to be with her for the sentencing. And our family thing was always to buy fish and chips and go and sit on the headland. I picked my mum up and she went in to get the fish and chips — and while she was getting them, my phone rang.
"It was my then manager saying, 'Mate, I am so sorry, it has become too loud for ITV. You will have to step down from This Morning'. And she arrived in the car. She said to me before I arrived, 'You're not coming down with any bad news are you?'. She sat in the car and she was all happy to see me, and then she said, 'Oh, your face has changed'. I said, 'Let's go on to the headland'. And I had to tell her."
Phillip Schofield's support network
As well as Pat supporting him, Schofield has had the unconditional love from his wife Stephanie who stuck by him and their two daughters. The Schofields have been married for 31 years since they wed in 1993, with no plans to divorce, and they raised their grown up daughters Molly, 30, and Ruby, 28.
When he came out as gay, Stephanie said: "I will still be there, holding his hand. Everyone should be proud to live their own truth." Loyally she has stayed true to her words. And when Schofield resigned from This Morning over the scandal that almost ruined his career, he was supported by Steph and the girls at their family home.
The family all featured in Schofield's big TV comeback on Channel 5's Cast Away where they were seen having a BBQ in their garden.
His daughter and publicist Molly said the family were united after weathering the media storm of the This Morning scandal. She said: "Weirdly everything that's happened recently has brought us closer."