Joel Dommett’s appearance on This Morning was a ‘screen test’

Phillip Schofield’s absence from This Morning was an opportunity to test out potential new presenters, according to a newspaper report.

The 61-year-old presenter of the ITV daytime show has been away for the past two week as his brother, Timothy, faced trial over sexually assaulting a boy. He was found guilty last Monday and will be sentenced next month.

Immediately after Timothy Schofield had been convicted, Phillip released a statement saying that he ‘no longer has a brother’. Phillip’s full statement read: “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.”

The Sunday Mirror reports that bosses at ITV want Phillip to stay away from the show for longer than he is to ‘let the dust settle.’ He is due to return as co-host alongside Holly Willoughby on the 17th April following the Easter break.

A source told Sunday Mirror that Phillip’s time away has been used to test out new possible presenters. Masked Singer presenter Joel Dommett was a surprise addition last week when he joined Holly to present a two editions. The source said: “It is possible in future there may be a presenting shakeup, and experiments like this are really helpful.” 

ITV have denied the conversations adding that they don’t comment on presenter contracts. It is believed that Phillip’s contract is up for renewal this year. He has been one of the main presenters of This Morning since 2002.