She’s such a familiar face on British television that she almost seems one of our own relatives. Holly Willoughby, the ‘golden girl’ of TV, has spent uncountable hours on our screens and won numerous awards. Who is this fabulous show host? What’s she like in her day-to-day life?
(Images are from Gtres, ITV, and Holly Willoughby’s Instagram account.)
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Holly Willoughby as a child
Holly Marie Willoughby was born on February 10, 1981 as the youngest daughter of Brian and Linda Willoughby. The couple, a sales manager and a stewardess, lived in Brighton, East Sussex.
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Holly Willoughby and her sister Kelly
Holly has one older sister, Kelly Willoughby. The difference between them is two years. “Kelly was always the one I looked up to,” Holly tells The Guardian. Kelly adds that they never fought. “I was the postman, and Holly was all the characters coming into the shop.”
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Holly and Kelly Willoughby today
Kelly works in television as a producer. “People weren’t obsessed with fame when we were kids like they are now,” she remembers in The Guardian. “Holly said she wanted to be a barrister in the car once. She’d picked it up from somewhere. As it transpired we ended up working in the same world.” What’s more, the sisters have written a number of books together.
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Dyslexia
It’s remarkable that Holly Willoughby wrote a number of books, because she’s had to cope with dyslexia. “At school, reading out loud absolutely terrified me because I’d get all the words wrong and I was convinced everybody thought I was stupid,” she told Red Magazine. “It still happens now,” she added. “Most of the mistakes I make on ‘This Morning’ are because of it.”
(On the photo, Holly is posing with co-author Fearne Cotton and their book ‘Best Friends’ Guide to Life.’)
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Holly Willoughby as a teen model
Holly loved Drama in school. When she was fourteen years old, talents scouts spotted her as a model and she signed up with the agency Storm. The teenage Holly Willoughby appeared in magazines like ‘Shout’ (in this picture), ‘Mizz,’ and ‘Just Seventeen.’
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Holly Willoughby at age 18
When she was seventeen, in 1998, Holly began modelling underwear and lingerie. This is a still from a commercial she did for Pretty Polly in 1999. One of the eighteen-year-old brunette’s iconic lines from the ad is: “Don’t squeeze them. Lift them.”
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Switch to TV
Two years later she would have her first shot at a TV career, winning an audition in 2000 to participate in the programme ‘S Club TV’ on CITV. From that moment, Holly Willoughby would become a regular face on English television: from children’s entertainer to daytime queen.
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Blond and blonder
The step to television meant that Holly no longer appeared as a brunette or redhead. She even dyes her hair platinum blond sometimes.
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Lockdown locks
While making television during the COVID-19 pandemic, Holly Willoughby showed her followers on Instagram how long the hair was growing without the regular touch-up from a hair stylist. “Sooo… what do I do with this?” she asked them. “Chop or not to chop?”
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This Morning
Holly Willoughby is best known for hosting the daily programme ‘This Morning’ with Phillip Schofield. She’s been doing it since September 2009 and it feels like she’s always been there.
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Every Morning is different
At the moment, Phillip and Holly present the programme every Monday through Thursday. On Fridays they get a break thanks to co-hosts Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes (and in 2021 by Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond).
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Special guests
This Morning’s special guests range from royalty (Charles and Camilla on the previous picture) to animals who do not follow the script. Holly and Phillip have good chemistry together and always have a laugh on the show, whether their guest is a skunk or a prince.
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Seasonal themes
The daily morning show is meant to guide viewers in their day-to-day lives. So when it’s Christmas in our houses, it’s Christmas on ‘This Morning’ as well.
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Food
The show’s cooks (John Torode, Phil Vickery, James Martin, and others) prepare meals or snacks that we can copy at home.
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Fashion
And then there’s Holly Willoughby’s stunning looks: every day something new. Before the show, she always posts a head-to-toe image of herself with the latest outfit. Holly’s current clothing sponsor is Marks & Spencer.
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Fashion twins
In July 2020, Holly Willoughby had a fashion twin in Kate Middleton. During her visit to the NHS, the Duchess of Cambridge wore the same blue summer dress by Beulah that Holly had worn a year earlier in ‘This Morning.’
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Holly Willoughby made best friends on TV
Holly Willoughby’s path to becoming one of British TV’s iconic presenters started with children’s television. After ‘S Club’ she returned to the screen with ‘Ministry of Mayhem,’ a kids’ entertainment show on Saturday mornings. In 2007, she presented a dating show with her friend Fearne Cotton. Soon enough, they became “poster girls for CBBC and CITV,” the Daily Mail says.
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Odd jobs
Before television became a sure path, Holly Willoughby tried other careers as well. She studied psychotherapy at the Open University and worked as a receptionist and as a runner for ‘Auction World TV,’ a channel that no longer exists.
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Ministry of Mayhem, where she met her future husband
The children’s entertainment show ‘Ministry of Mayhem’ (2004-2006) was produced by Dan Baldwin. He and presenter Holly Willoughby hit it off. They dated for a few years and got married in 2007.
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Holly Willoughby’s wedding
By the time they married in August of 2007, Holly Willoughby was already a star. The wedding became a media event.
(Image: the cover of Ok Magazine in August 2007)
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Dancing on Ice with “TV husband” Phillip Schofield
On TV, Holly Willoughby had already found her ‘husband’ in Phillip Schofield. Together they have presented ‘Dancing on Ice’ since 2006. Since 2009, the daily cooperation in ‘This Morning’ has further strengthened their bond.
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Celebrity Juice
With her best friend Fearne Cotton and Keith Lemon, Holly Willoughby appeared for many years (2008-2020) in the hilarious panel show ‘Celebrity Juice.’ As team captains, Holly and Fearne gave each other crazy assignments and trick questions. When Fearne left in 2018, Holly’s opponent became Spice Girl Mel B.
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Talent shows
In addition to ‘Celebrity Juice,’ ‘Dancing on Ice,’ and ‘This Morning,’ Holly Willoughby appeared in talent shows like ‘The Xtra Factor’ and ‘The Voice.’ By then, it seemed like the witty blonde was on British television all the time. She became part of the furniture.
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The issue about Holly Willoughby’s salary
It rained awards on the shows presented by Schofield and Willoughby. They’ve always come across as an incredibly successful and amiable couple on TV. But there was one thing that did not sit well with Holly Willoughby. Despite doing the same work as her on-screen husband, she was paid less.
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Holly Willoughby’s pay rise
She set out to fix that. According to the Daily Mail, Holly “received a £200,000 pay rise [in 2017], which then put her on the same salary as Phillip Schofield.” A source told the newspaper: “It seemed ridiculous they were going to get paid the same fee for Dancing on Ice but Holly was lagging behind on This Morning. Quite rightly, that has now been rectified and they both earn exactly the same.”
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“There is absolutely no excuse”
Holly herself also seems to have felt cheated by her employer. According to the Daily Mail, she said: “I think it’s outrageous, I mean there’s no reason for it at all. If you have two equally qualified people who have been doing something for the same amount of time then there is absolutely no excuse.”
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“I would hope our employer would respect me”
Asked about the possible reason for the discrepancy, she added: “Do you know what? I have no idea. We’ve never spoken about it. The thing is, it’s a really difficult question to answer because I think you have to trust in your employer really. You have to trust that they respect you in that way, and I would hope our employer would respect me.”
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When Holly replaced her friend in his own show
Another somewhat painful episode in Willoughby’s recent career was the time when she replaced Ant McPartlin, a close friend of hers, in the ITV programme ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ in 2018. Ant had always presented this popular show in the Australian jungle with his regular TV partner Declan Donnelly, but he had to leave TV temporarily under difficult circumstances.
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The story of Ant & Dec
The established TV duo Ant & Dec had appeared together for years and won numerous prizes for programmes like ‘SMTV Live,’ ‘Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway,’ and ‘I’m a Celebrity.’ They had always been inseparable and none of their fans wanted to ever see them break up.
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An uncomfortable job
When she was asked about replacing one half of the Duo, Holly Willoughby told The Daily Mail that it would probably be “much weirder for Dec” than for her. “I mean, he’s only ever worked with Ant.” Dec later confessed in the book ‘Once Upon A Tyne’ that it was “very strange for me to host a TV show with anyone but Ant.”
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Ant McPartlin’s break from TV
But there was no other way. After a great run with Dec on TV, Ant McPartlin had some bad years in the 2010s. He became addicted to several dangerous substances and drove his life off the rails. After a car crash in Richmond in 2018, the television star was charged with drink-driving and had to go into rehab. He took a long break from television.
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Holly Willoughby about Ant’s difficult situation
Replacing one half of the Ant & Dec duo while also being Ant’s close friend was a painful affair for Holly Willoughby. Asked about it by The Guardian, she said: “Everybody knows that Ant is a very good friend of mine and I’ve known him for a very long time. Out of respect for him, I love him to bits, it’s not something that I find very easy to talk about. Because it’s a friend. His is not my story to tell.”
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How they look back on that year
Once Ant was recovered and back in showbiz, he and Dec reunited and Holly looked back on a wonderful, one-time experience in Australia. What did Ant think of Holly’s work in the jungle? Speaking to The Sun, the disgraced star admitted that he had only seen “bits” of ‘I’m a Celebrity’ with Holly Willoughby, because it was “too difficult” for him to watch the show. Still, he praised his close friend Holly and said she was “fantastic.” Dec added: “Holly did a superb job.”
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Holly Willoughby’s net worth
With all her TV appearances, sponsorships, and the producing company Roxy Media she runs with her husband Dan Baldwin, Holly Willoughby’s net worth has grown to the respectable number of £10 million, Hello Magazine reports.
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Holly Willoughby’s earnings
Holly Willoughby makes about £600,000 a year with ‘This Morning,’ the Daily Mail adds, while Roxy Media made in £1 million over the course of 2017. Of that production profit, Holly got 80% (£760,000), as she is the majority owner of the shares, while Dan received the other 20% (£190,000) for the year. Not bad, right?
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Holly Willoughby’s house in London
With some of that money, the couple bought a beautiful house in London, of which we sometimes get a peak through Holly Willoughby’s Instagram feed. How about this impressive kitchen and the gian meal she is cooking in it?
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The garden
The house stands in south west London and is worth £3 million, Hello Magazine reports. Holly can relax in her garden after a hectic day with ‘This Morning’ or before entering the rink for ‘Dancing on Ice.’
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Bluebell the cat
Holly Willoughby shares the house with Dan, her three children, and Bluebell the cat. She gives an honest presentation of her daily life with all its ups and downs on social media.
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Working during a pandemic
In 2020, Holly and Phillip were physically separated from each other while presenting ‘This Morning’ during the coronavirus lockdown. They introduced the new cook of the show, Joe Denison Carey, who had to cook by himself as well.
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Three children
Holly and Dan’s three children, Belle, Harry, and Chester, were in the house while their mum prepared to go on TV.
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Working from home
Naturally, the combined home schooling and TV presenting tasks made for a full house. On Instagram, Holly showed a dinner table shared between her makeup set and the kids’ crafts. In The Guardian, her sister Kelly says: “I’m organised and regimented; Holly is messy.” Holly adds that “when she walks into my house, she empties my handbag out for me, without being asked. … It has kids’ toys, loose change, wet wipes, and Christ knows what.”
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A view of her private life
During the lockdown, Willoughby took the time to show her followers the life she leads at home. The TV star is a skillful gardener, for example.
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Honest about her appearance
Most stunning are her behind-the-screens revelations of makeup and hair routines. Lamenting the lack of her make-up stylist, Holly Willoughby showed how she did her hair and makeup every day before the show. Her video was a revelation. On the left, we see Willoughby all painted and styled for the cover of Fabulous Magazine. On the right is her honest self-portrait from the @hollywilloughby Instagram account. What an amazing difference!
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What brings 2021 for Holly Willoughby?
Holly Willoughby’s future has some great projects in it. Together with Freddie Flintoff, she is hosting ‘The Real Games,’ a show in which twelve celebrities leave their comfort zones and confront each other in gruelling athletic competitions.
We have not seen the last of Holly Willoughby yet.
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