Phillip Schofield’s mum and brother diagnosed with same devastating health problem

Phillip Schofield has confessed his shock when both his mother and brother were diagnosed with the same serious health condition. The 62-year-old TV star, who made a dramatic return to television last night in Channel 5’s Cast Away, cut ties with his brother, Timothy, 54, after he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing a vulnerable teenage boy over three years.

However, speaking about his brother in the past, Phil revealed that the ‘family sat down together’ when Timothy and their mother, Pat, were both diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes within six months of each other. “My brother was first to be diagnosed and he had an unquenchable thirst for fizzy drink, which was very unlike him,” he revealed in a previous interview with .

“… So we took him to the doctors and he was very quickly diagnosed. Then 6 months later my mum was diagnosed in the same way.” The that Type 1 diabetes is triggered by an autoimmune disease that causes ‘the level of glucose (sugar) in your blood to become too high’.

This occurs when your body cannot produce enough insulin – the hormone which regulates blood glucose. Although its exact cause is unknown, it’s not linked with obesity or age, like Type 2 diabetes.

Both Phillip’s brother and mum have now been dealing with diabetes for more than 25 years, according to . The former This Morning presenter stressed that his family know exactly how to spot fluctuations in blood glucose and how to respond.

On his new series Cast Away, Phil claimed that ITV dismissed him following his brother Timothy’s conviction for sexual assault, despite earlier public statements about resigning. While poking a fire on the beach, he said: “What people don’t realise is I wasn’t fired from This Morning when I admitted lying. It was before, because of someone I used to call brother. I was fired for the bad publicity, for someone else’s crime.”

In May 2023, Timothy Schofield was sentenced to a 12-year prison term for sexually abusing a teenager. Phillip took a break from his on-screen duties during the court proceedings and subsequently left This Morning amidst front-page stories suggesting a fallout with co-host and former close friend Holly Willoughby.

Revelations about an affair he had with a younger male colleague also surfaced, which ultimately led to his complete resignation from ITV.

Speaking about Phil’s claim that he was sacked because of his brother, an ITV source : “Phillip’s new comments are simply untrue, he is lying again. We stood by him through his brother’s court case and he then stepped away when things became too much. There was a lot going on and some relationships on the programme had become untenable as was reported at the time.

“He then admitted himself he had been lying about an affair and he resigned from ITV altogether. We didn’t sack him, he lied to us and then he resigned, there is not much else to say.”

If you’re concerned about Type 1 diabetes, the NHS has outlined some common symptoms:

• Frequent thirst
• Urinating more than usual – especially at night
• Exhaustion/feeling tired
• Unexplained weight loss
• Recurring thrush problems
• Blurred vision
• Cuts and grazes aren’t healing
• Foul-smelling breath