Holly Willoughby 'happy to stay' on This Morning when Phillip Schofield left

10 October 2023 , 21:13

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Things have imploded for Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield in the past 12 months (Image: ITV/Jon Gorrigan/REX/Shutterstock)

When Phillip Schofield quit This Morning back in May, the very last thing on the cards was Holly Willoughby disappearing as well.

Insiders at ITV were keen to keep her and she was happy to stay. Her rolling deal rolled on, with one source quipping that they could have slashed her fee and she’d have stayed, because it’s a job that she loves, and it’s what she’s known for.

Her other commercial work - like being a brand ambassador for M&S - is pegged to her role on This Morning. But there is no denying that the last year has has been tough. Her first taste of the dark side was Queuegate, when she and Schofield got flak for looking like they were pushing in to see the Queen lying in state. It may have been unfair, but they lost that PR battle.

Holly said she would stay on when her former friend left in May (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

And then there was Schofield’s shocking demise, after he lied and lied about having had an affair with a far younger colleague. Before he quit, his sofa chemistry with Holly had imploded. She was upset that she was being dragged into the row over his behaviour with the runner and also upset about not being kept fully in the loop over his paedophile brother, jailed for 12 years in May for child sex offences.

He hadn’t been straight with her and that meant their long friendship was null and void. Since then there’s been a revolving door of presenters, until we heard of an alleged plot to kidnap and harm Holly at the weekend, leaving her and her family under police guard.

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That’s enough to unsettle anyone. And extreme moments like this can make you have a long hard look at your life. For Holly, it’s turned out to be the stepping off point when it comes to This Morning. So now it’s our turn to ask her, as she asked viewers a few weeks ago - are you OK?

The answer is probably not, but let’s hope she bounces back soon.

Nicola Methven