After 14 years, Holly Willoughby is leaving ITV’s This Morning. She has not mentioned the alleged plot to kidnap her, due to which she was absent last week, and has only cited her decision as being for herself and her family. She thanked everybody who worked on the show and all the viewers who showed their support over the years. ITV’s managing director of media and entertainment Kevin Lygo said in a statement that Holly was “one of the best loved, respected and most accomplished broadcasters in the UK”, and further added that everyone on the programme would miss her a lot.
The news comes five months after her former co-host, Phillip Schofield, admitted to lying about having an affair with a younger colleague, leading to the show being mired in scandal. Holly had three children with her husband Daniel Baldwin while presenting the long-running programme with Schofield, during which the pair won National Television Awards in the daytime, live magazine, and topical magazine programme categories for 12 years in a row. The fallout from the scandal led to Phillip’s departure from ITV and wider accusations about a toxic workplace on the show.
ITV hasn’t yet announced who will replace Holly or Schofield on This Morning, but the core format of the show is relatively cheap to make and not dependent on the personalities presenting it. Additionally, the show has been in broadcast since 1988, so this could be an opportune moment for ITV to launch a new, similar-format programme with a new title, studio, branding, and presenters.
For the time being, This Morning will be presented by Josie Gibson, Craig Doyle, Dermot O’Leary, and Alison Hammond. ITV is expected to announce more about the show’s future in due course
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