When Holly Willoughby made her triumphant red carpet comeback last night, she was given all the fanfare of a returning hero.
Perched at the front of a posse of her ITV colleagues for a group photo, it’s no wonder her smile was as dazzling as her £30,000 strapless silver dress, while both Rochelle Humes and Davina McCall wrapped their arms around their homecoming queen.
Last night’s ceremony – hot on the heels of another show-stealing appearance at a charity event – was Holly’s first red carpet since quitting This Morning last year, shortly after a kidnap and murder plot against her was revealed. Aside from presenting Dancing on Ice earlier this year, she’s been nowhere to be seen.
After security guard Gavin Plumb was convicted in July of a ‘graphic’ plot to kidnap, rape and murder the star, it was understandable that Holly would want some time to regroup away from the limelight.
However, it doesn’t quite give a full picture of why she’s been absent from the showbiz world. Rewind a year and her crown as the Queen Bee of daytime TV was, at one point, looking dangerously in doubt.
In truth, before she quit This Morning, things were already looking rocky for Holly because of her co-star and one-time best friend Philip Schofield admitting to an affair with a much younger colleague on the show.
Holly proved she is back in the This Morning fold as she posed alongside her former co-stars Rochelle Humes and Dermot O’Leary at the NTAs
All eyes were on Holly Willoughby yesterday evening as she made her return to the red carpet at the National Television Awards
Her closeness to Schofield took some of the shine off her golden girl image and viwers were not convinced by her attempts to swiftly move on from the scandal, insisting that she too had been duped and knew nothing about the relationship.
Therefore, her love-in with her former colleagues last night was even more notable, especially because the NTAs were very much Holly and Phil’s big night out at one point.
They famously turned up hungover in the outfits from the night before in 2016, but, of course, last night there was no sign of Schofield who has lost all his TV work since the furore over his ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair.
Meanwhile, it was just like old times for Holly as she reunited with her former ITV colleagues, including Dermot O’Leary, Rochelle Humes, and Alison Hammond, while Phil remains in the wilderness.
Earlier this week, he posted a snap of himself playing tennis as his tentative return to social media continues.
Where once his Instagram feed was constantly updated with selfies with celebrity guests on This Morning, he’s now limited to the occasional snap of his dog.
Meanwhile, Holly’s triumphant return at London‘s O2 Arena involved presenting the Bruce Forsyth entertainment award to I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here with kisses on stage for both Ant and Dec.
The moment may have proved an extra little sting in the tail for Phil, who has remained close with Dec and was seen enjoying a four-hour dinner with the presenter and his wife Ali in May.
The Saturday Night Takeaway star has even reportedly encouraged his pal to think about getting back into TV.
Friends of Phil told The Sun that he still had the support of some ITV colleagues, saying: ‘They have all been rallying around him and their support, especially from Dec who is such a good friend, has really helped Phil. Some TV executives have been in touch with Phil about a possible return and his friends have told him he should consider it.
Unlike his former co-host at glamorous events, Philip has been spending time out of the limelight. he shared a snap of himself earlier this week playing tennis
Holly and Dermot O’Leary put on a sweet display as they reunited on the red carpet at London’s O2 Arena
Holly is adjusting back to her career in the spotlight, and on Wednesday, she attended the BGC Group Charity Day on behalf of Together For Short Lives, raising millions for good causes in memory of BGC’s colleagues lost on 9/11
Holly plants a kiss on Declan Donnelly’s cheek as he and Ant McPartlin accept the Bruce Forsythe Entertainment Award
Phillip and Holly’s working relationship dates back to 2006 – the year Holly signed on to the ITV show Dancing On Ice. At the time, Phil, as the more experienced presenter, was reportedly paid £200,000 more than his younger co-host, whose background was in children’s television.
The two went on to impress viewers and ITV bosses with their onscreen chemistry while their friendship developed off screen.
It was three years later in 2009 that Phillip’s This Morning co-host Fern Britton suddenly quit the ITV flagship show. In September that year, Holly was announced as Fern’s replacement on This Morning.
It was the start of a fruitful career for the pair as a television duo, with Holly returning to present Dancing On Ice alongside Phillip in 2017 after an absence from the show to focus on other projects.
At the time, it was reported ITV’s golden girl received a £200,000 pay rise to match Phil’s salary, alongside a pay rise from This Morning to match his annual salary of approximately £600,000 to £700,000.
At the same time, a friendship formed between the pair, and when Phillip came out as gay live on This Morning in 2020, he thanked his co-star and friend for her support, calling her ‘the sister I’ve never had.’
The authenticity of their friendship was always a huge selling point, and it looked as if their position as the King and Queen of daytime TV was unshakeable.
That changed thoughm when the pair were criticised after failing to queue for the late Queen Elizabeth’s Lying in State.
The presenters were seen on the camera feed after using press accreditation to ensure they didn’t have to wait for hours to enter Westminster Hall alongside thousands of wellwishers and other celebrities including David Beckham and their ITV colleague Susanna Reid, who both queued.
Furious fans accused Holly and Phil of lacking in ‘common decency’ and said they should be ‘ashamed’ of themselves, leading 73,000 fans to sign a petition calling for them to be sacked over the scandal.
Three days after the incident the pair issue a statement live on This Morning but both stopped short of using the word ‘sorry’ – a move which created even more backlash.
Holly was said to be particularly upset over the reaction and ‘had never had to deal with anger and vitriol like this in her life’, with the situation even forcing her off social media as the criticism continued for weeks.
Tension continued to brew in April last year when Phillip was absent from This Morning for two weeks while his brother Timothy was tried at Exeter Crown Court of sexually abusing a teenage boy.
After he was convicted, the TV star said: ‘I no longer have a brother.’ The Mail’s Katie Hind was told that at the heart of Holly and Phil’s fall-out was a dispute over whether he confided in her that his brother faced charges of child sex offences.
Friends said Holly was in the dark until Phil took his leave from the ITV daytime show to avoid the limelight while the trial took place.
Boozy: The presenter, 42, has become known for her boozy morning-after NTAs appearances on the ITV breakfast show alongside her former co-host Phillip Schofield (pictured in 2016)
Phil came out as gay in 2020 and shared an emotional conversation with Holly on This Morning during which he called her ‘the sister I’ve never had’
Off camera Holly and Phil regularly socialised together and jetted off for annual summer holidays with their families
Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were lambasted for allegedly jumping the queue to see the Queen lying in state at Westminster Hall
He later returned to This Morning after Holly’s presenting stint with Alison Hammond was praised by viewers.
However, the Mail on Sunday reported that cracks were showing between Holly and Phil.
Sources revealed that the pair no longer spoke to each other when the cameras on This Morning stopped rolling. And viewers noticed the tension – to the dismay of the This Morning production team.
Amid the flurry of reports Phil released an statement insisting that there was no fallout with his co-host.
‘Holly is my rock,’ Phil told The Sun. ‘We’re the best of friends — as always, she is an incredible support on screen, behind the scenes and on the phone. Holly has always been there for me, through thick and thin. And I’ve been there for her.’
But in May last year, when Phillip admitted that ‘the last few weeks haven’t been easy for us,’ sources close to Holly told MailOnline that she had no idea that Phillip was going to make a statement.
Soon after, Philip cut ties with This Morning after admitting to an affair with a much young man, while he was still married.
Schofield had reportedly first met the man when he was 15 years old, but said the affair did not begin until he was much older and had begun working at ITV.
The fallout undeniably dimmed Holly’s star power, and her being snubbed from the TV presenter category for the second year in a row at the National Television Awards after the affair furore.
At the same time as Philip’s exit, Holly was grappling with a sinister murder plot. In October last year, Gavin Plumb, 36, was charged with soliciting to commit murder and incitement to commit kidnap.
The security guard had plotted to ambush the former This Morning presenter at her London home in the dead of night, using chloroform to knock Ms Willoughby and her husband Dan Baldwin.
In his twisted plan, he would have taken the 43-year-old captive, holding her in an isolated ‘dungeon’ which he described as ‘death row’, repeatedly raping her before slitting her throat and murdering her.
When Plumb was arrested on October 4 last year and officers told him that the allegations concerned Ms Willoughby, the defendant told them: ‘I’m not gonna lie, she is a fantasy of mine.’
ln October last year, Holly quit This Morning because the show ‘wasn’t the same’ after her co-host Phillip Schofield left but was ‘tipped over the edge’ by the ‘kidnap and murder plot’, insiders claimed.
Holly announced that she ‘will not be returning’ to the show. She said it was an ‘honour to just be part of its story’ over the last 14 years but that she feels ‘I have to make this decision for me and my family’.
The ITV presenter, acknowledging that leaving is ‘such a difficult goodbye’, thanked the network for ‘being supportive’. She also expressed her gratitude to the ‘wonderful viewers’ that she says have been ‘loyal, so supportive and the very best company’ over the years.
It wasn’t until July this year that the true extent of Plumb’s plans were revealed to the public following his sentencing in court.
Gavin Plumb (pictured) was convicted him of soliciting murder and inciting rape and kidnap following a trial last week
Holly announced in October last year that she was stepping down from This Morning after 14 years on the ITV show
Holly Willoughby made her hotly-anticipated return to television screens on during the Dancing On Ice launch show in January
Handing Plumb concurrent life sentences with a minimum term of 16 years for each of his three offences – minus 280 days spent on remand – the judge said they had been ‘particularly brutal and degrading’.
While Plumb’s ‘gross obesity’ meant the plot was ‘unlikely to succeed’, Mr Edward Justice Murray added: ‘It’s fortunate you didn’t’ succeed in finding one or more others who were physically more able.’
The defendant, who stood as the sentence was read out, initially showed no reaction but after hearing the words ‘take him down’, he turned to the female security guard and muttered: ‘Fifteen years to kill myself.’
After the news broke, a three-month long silence from Holly followed. Then, on January 12, Holly posted an image of a script for ITV’s Dancing On Ice to confirm that she would return to hosting the series once more.
Holly made her hotly-anticipated return to television screens as she joined her new co-host Steven Mulhern on the Dancing On Ice launch show.
Career successes continued for Holly in August, when it was revealed she will host a Netflix show, Bear Hunt, in which a group of British celebrities are put through their paces by Bear Grylls, the survival expert and adventurer, in the Central American jungle.
While no date has been set for the programme, it is expected to air from next year and will reportedly feature celebrities including Spice Girl Mel B, The Saturdays singer Una Healy and tennis star Boris Becker.
Bosses at the popular streaming service are said to believe that Holly’s wholesome appeal will help to bring in more mainstream British audiences, including those who watched her on This Morning for many years.
In recent months, the presenter has also shared hints that she will focus her attentions on other things outside of television, including work on her lifestyle brand, Wylde Moon.
Holly previously said she had the idea for the brand in 2018 and it launched in 2021, with a website full of curated content surrounding her beauty, fashion and family life recommendations.
‘I want Wylde Moon to be a place where I can share the things that I love, the lessons that I’ve learnt, the things I see and instantly want to share with others,’ Holly said after launching the brand.
Holly, who also took a break from sharing updates with fans on social media, has also returned to sharing happy moments with her family.
But it was this week that the presenter proved she is returning to normality when she led stars at the annual BGC Group Charity Day in Canary Wharf.
Holly was joined at the event by Louise Redknapp, Davina McCall, Ashley Roberts, Gareth Southgate, and Princess Beatrice, amongst a host of other famous faces.
BGC Group’s annual charity day commemorates those whose lives were lost on 9/11 by providing their global revenues to hundreds of charities.
She continued to demonstrate her return to the limelight when she stepped out on the red carpet at the National Television Awards yesterday.
The TV presenter, who co-led This Morning for 14 years, beamed as she posed for a photo alongside This Morning regulars Alison Hammond and Rochelle Humes.
Rochelle wrapped her arms around Holly, alongside Davina McCall, while fellow This Morning stars Dermot O’Leary and Ashley James were also present in the snap.
On the red carpet, Holly shared a kiss with Dermot and a laugh with Alison as the gang were reunited at the 02 London.
Holly’s glamorous activities this week starkly contrast that of her former work partner Phillip, who has mostly kept a low profile following his confession that he had an affair with a much younger colleague.
Unlike Holly at red carpet events, Philip appears to be enjoying life’s simple pleasures, with him this week posting a snap of him playing tennis on Instagram.
However, Mark Borkowski, arguably Britain’s leading PR guru, told MailOnline that there should now be ‘no surprise’ if Mr Schofield makes a TV return, perhaps even in 2024.
‘Never write off Phillip Schofield’, Mr Borkowski told MailOnline: ‘He’s making all the right noises and hanging out with his A-List mates. He’s rehabilitating and people like an underdog and a comeback story’.
Mr Borkowski said: ‘There are no surprises here – and don’t write off Phillip Schofield.
‘Phillip is a bona fide talent created by television. There aren’t that many around at the moment as TV looks at more and more influencers and reality stars thrown up from places like Love Island.
‘He has a talent. It’s finding him a format’.