Holly Willoughby spoke about her ‘difficult year’ (Picture: Rex)

Holly Willoughby has made a rare comment about ‘difficult year’ while walking the red carpet at the National Television Awards.

At the glamorous event held at London’s O2, the 42-year-old was attending without former This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield for the first time.

Of course, people were curious how she’s coped with the past year.

‘If I am really honest, it has been up and down,’ she admitted.

While speaking to The Sun she added: ‘It has been a difficult year for everybody but what’s lovely is you find that people rally around you and the goodwill is there.

‘People want things to move on. It feels different.’

Holly stunned on the red carpet (Picture: David Fisher/Shutterstock for NTA)

Phillip and Holly presented This Morning together (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Holly added that Alison Hammond is ‘natural and wonderful’.

‘I think it’s a natural home for her and I think her and Dermot (O’Leary) are incredible.’

Earlier this year, Phillip, 61, quit This Morning and then stepped away from ITV altogether after he admitted to lying about an affair that he had with a younger male colleague to his coworkers and loved ones.

There is seemingly no signs of Holly and Phil’s friendship being repaired.

After scanning the list of people who Phillip follows on Instagram, Metro.co.uk can confirm that he no longer follows Holly on the social media platform.

Holly was complimentary about Dermot and Alison (Picture: S Meddle/ITV/Shutterstock)

However, he does still follow former colleagues including Alison and Dermot, as well as the account for This Morning itself.

It’s uncertain when Phillip might have decided to click the unfollow button, months after fans first started speculating about the state of his friendship with Holly and whether it had soured.

Holly, on the other hand, does still follow Phillip on Instagram, as well as his daughters.

The National Television Awards aired on ITV.

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Holly made a rare comment about ‘difficult year’.