This Morning addresses Holly Willoughby’s return to TV

Holly Willoughby is returning to our screens tonight as she hosts Dancing On Ice (Picture: Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

This Morning have addressed Holly Willoughby’s return to TV after she left the show in October.

The 42-year-old presenter will be returning to our screens tonight, as she hosts Dancing On Ice alongside Stephen Mulhern.

Taking to social media with a picture of the two hosts side-by-side, magazine show This Morning wrote: ‘So great to see @hollywilloughby back on our screens where she belongs. Good luck for tonight’s launch of @dancingonice – we’ll be watching!’

Holly announced she would be stepping down from presenting This Morning back in October after an alleged kidnap plot against her was revealed.

Announcing her shock departure after 14 years in her role on social media, Holly said she made the decision for her and her family.

The statement read: ‘I have let ITV know today that after 14 years, I will not be returning to This Morning.

Holly is hosting the show with Stephen Mulhern(Picture: ITV)

The 42-year-old presenter left her role at This Morning in October (Picture: ITV)

‘To everyone who has ever worked on the show over the years, thank you so much. This is such a difficult goodbye, you are incredible and I forever will be proud of what we’ve done together. Thank you to everyone at ITV for being supportive. To every guest who has sat on our sofa, thank you.

‘Most of all, thank you to the wonderful viewers. You’ve been so loyal, so supportive and the best company every day.

‘Richard and Judy said, “We only look after this show, it will always belong to the viewers”. It’s been an honour to just be part of its story and I know this story has many chapters left to go. Sadly, however, I now I feel I have to make this decision for me and my family.

She concluded the post: ‘I will miss you all so much.’

Her departure also came months after her co-host for over a decade Philip Schofield – who she also presented Dancing On Ice with – left all ITV after admitting to lying about having an affair with a younger colleague.

Holly has stayed out of the limelight and off social media since she announced her This Morning exit, only posting a few days before January 14th’s Dancing On Ice launch.

In May 2023 Philip Schofield left ITV after admitting to lying about an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a younger colleague (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

‘And so it begins…’ she wrote to her 8.5million followers, alongside an image of the first episode’s script.

Going forward, PR, brand and culture expert Lynn Carrat told Metro.co.uk that Holly will have to work hard to ‘reconnect’ with her viewers after her turbulent year.

‘This series of Dancing on Ice is critical for Holly because she needs to reconnect with the viewers.

‘Rightly or wrongly, she lost some credibility with viewers after the Schofield scandal, and the speech she made when she returned to This Morning went down like a lead balloon with the audience,’ she said.

Making an emotional monologue to the camera on the first show since the admissions from Schofield – who she hosted This Morning with for over a decade – Holly began: ‘Right, deep breath. Firstly, are you ok? I hope so.’

Her words were met with a mix of sympathy, scorn, and ridicule, with some comparing it to Jennifer Aniston’s fictional scene in The Morning Show.

Dancing On Ice airs tonight on ITV at 6.30 pm.

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She’s back on our screens tonight.