Holly Willoughby breaks social media silence for first time since This Morning exit
Topics: Celebrity, Holly Willoughby
Jess Hardiman
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@hollywilloughby
Topics: Celebrity, Holly Willoughby
Holly Willoughby has broken her social media silence for first time since she announced she was leaving This Morning, having shared an exciting update on the platform.
Willoughby, 42, announced she’d be stepping down from her longstanding gig on the daytime show in October last year.
It came after news that she would go on 'indefinite leave' from the show after learning about an alleged plot to kidnap her, which was said to leave her ‘distraught’.
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"I have let ITV know today that after 14 years, I will not be returning to This Morning,” she said on Instagram.
"To everyone who has ever worked on the show over the years, thank you so so much.
"This is such a difficult goodbye, you are incredible and I forever will be proud of what we've done together.”
Willoughby went on to thank ITV and her ‘wonderful viewers’, adding: “It's been an honour to just be part of it's story and I know this story has many chapters left to go. Sadly, however, I now feel I have to make this decision for me and my family.”
Since then, the grid has remained untouched - until now, with Willoughby taking to the social media site to update fans about her next move.
Posting a photo of her script for Dancing on Ice, she wrote: “And so it begins…”
Willoughby will be reprising her role as co-host of the show, which returns this weekend, alongside Stephen Mulhern - an old friend she knows from their time presenting Ministry Of Mayhem together some 20 years ago.
At the time the pair were confirmed, Katie Rawcliffe, Head of Entertainment Commissioning at ITV, said: "Holly and Stephen are two of our best loved presenters, so reuniting them 20 years after they first appeared on screen together to host Dancing On Ice marks the start of an exciting year for the show."
The programme used to be co-hosted by Willoughby’s former This Morning co-star Phillip Schofield, but he was forced to quit ITV after admitting to an affair with a ‘younger male colleague’.
Responding to the news, an ITV spokesperson said: “We are deeply disappointed by the admissions of deceit made tonight by Phillip Schofield.
“The relationships we have with those we work with are based on trust. Phillip made assurances to us which he now acknowledges were untrue and we feel badly let down.
“We accept his resignation from ITV and therefore can confirm that he will not be appearing on ITV as had previously been stated.”