Phillip Schofield breaks cover for the first time in a month

Phillip Schofield has broken cover for the first time in a month since his devastating This Morning scandal.

The shamed star, who was axed from ITV’s hit daytime programme then sensationally quit the broadcaster altogether after admitting he lied to The Mail on Sunday about his affair with a colleague, was seen in Cornwall to celebrate his beloved mother’s birthday. 

Dressed in a casual blue T-shirt and white linen shorts, clutching car keys, his mobile phone and a vape, Schofield, 61, still looked forlorn but appeared to have had a slight tan and haircut.

MailOnline understands he was there to celebrate his mother Pat’s 87th birthday, as he does every year. 

While he still looked serious and hardly happy, it was a far cry from his pale appearance when news of his affair broke, crashing his career into the ground.

Phillip told last month how he had been too afraid to leave his home in case the public spat on him.

The fallen star, 61, still appeared forlorn but seemed to have had a slight tan and haircut as he was seen in Cornwall where supportive parent Pat lives

But in recent days famous names including Sir Elton John have questioned if some of the furore around the secret affair that destroyed the presenter’s career had been homophobic.

Phillip – who called the relationship ‘unwise, but not illegal’ – cheated on his wife Stephanie with the young male colleague.

The tryst was kept secret for years until he admitted to The Mail on Sunday he had lied about it having been just rumours.

He went on to confess he had misled his employer ITV, his colleagues, his friends and his then agents at the management firm YMU.

Then in an extraordinary series of mea culpa interviews he apologised for all of the hurt he had caused.

It sparked an extraordinary domino effect for the show and ITV, with Holly Willoughby having to issue a statement saying she knew nothing about it.

But Phillip insisted he had not ‘groomed’ the man, despite first meeting him when he was 15.

And he went on to declare: ‘Attraction is attraction. It’s no different in the gay world as it is in the heterosexual world or in the lesbian world.

‘There shouldn’t be a difference. This is where homophobia comes in.

‘We did first meet when he was 15, I visited the drama school [he attended].

Phillip – who has said his daughters had saved his life – told last month how he had been too afraid to leave his home in case the public spat on him

Phillip is understood to have been in Cornwall to celebrate his mother Pat’s 87th birthday. The pair are pictured here in 2008 

‘So yeah, there’s a difference. It’s accepted by Leonardo DiCaprio, it’s not accepted if it’s in the gay world.’

Titanic actor DiCaprio, 48, has reportedly had several relationships with women who are younger than him.

This Morning has been unable to shake off the controversy, despite Schofield resigning on May 20.

Only yesterday Willoughby and Dermot O’Leary were left squirming on the show as the scandal was referenced by a guest.

Awkward: The duo were visibly uncomfortable as chef Gino D’Acampo asked if there was ‘any news’ he should know of, during his return to the show, following a month-long Italy trip

Phillip pictured with former co-host Holly Willoughby on This Morning on May 16 before his sudden resignation

The duo were visibly uncomfortable as chef Gino D’Acampo asked if there was ‘any news’ he should know of, during his return to the daytime show on Tuesday, following his month-long trip to Italy.

While doing a preview of his cooking segment, Gino said to Holly and Dermot: ‘Everything is under control. I’m back.

‘Any news from the last month that I should know of? Anything I should know?’ to which Holly insisted: ‘No. No news,’ as the studio fell notably quiet.

In a bombshell statement to the Daily Mail, the veteran TV presenter had admitted that he and the man began a relationship that was more than a friendship. The ex-TV presenter describes this as ‘unwise but not illegal’. 

In his grovelling apology, Phillip said: ‘I am making this statement via the Daily Mail, to whom I have already apologised personally for misleading, through my lawyer who I also misled, about a story [sic] which they wanted to write about me a few days ago. 

BBC journalist Amol Rajan interviewing Phillip during one of the extraordinary mea culpas

The presenting pair pictured with the younger colleague with whom Phillip had an affair

‘The first thing I want to say is: I am deeply sorry for having lied to them, and to many others about a relationship that I had with someone working on This Morning. I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague at This Morning. 

‘Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than a just a friendship. That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over…

‘I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife…

‘I am resigning from ITV with immediate effect, expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me. 

‘I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it.’

The Daily Mail is aware of the younger man’s identity, but has chosen not to name him.

Phillip’s extraordinary statement concludes weeks of increasingly fevered speculation in both the TV industry and the wider country about the future of his career, following his sudden departure.