Holly’s friends reveal all about her annus horribilis: The final straw that broke her relationship with Schofield and what he said during their bust-up
POSING with two of her best friends, Holly Willoughby cracks a smile that says: ‘I’m back.’
The black and white photograph, which appeared on Instagram this week, showed her enjoying a celebratory lunch with former All Saints singer Nicole Appleton and music executive Shiarra Bell at an exclusive Mayfair restaurant.
‘Beautiful lunch with my beautiful girls,’ Holly wrote, tagging in the upmarket Italian, Il Borro.
On the face of it, it was nothing more than a girly afternoon — but for Holly it spelled out something rather more poignant.
It marked, almost a year to the date, the end of a truly ‘annus horribilis’ 12 months that nearly scuppered her career, and at one point had her fearing for her life.
For this time last year, rumours were at fever pitch about a growing rift between her and This Morning co-presenter, and close friend, Phillip Schofield, after 13 years as TV’s golden couple. Then came Schofield’s confession that he’d had an affair with a much younger male colleague followed by his resignation from ITV. This was followed by the shock revelation of an alleged plot to kidnap Holly — a security guard is due to stand trial later this year.
In the end, Holly had had enough. She quit This Morning, hid from the public and was rarely seen. But this week’s fun-filled lunch was also a celebration of a new start. The day before it was announced that Holly has signed a lucrative deal with Netflix to present a jungle-based reality show with survival expert Bear Grylls.
As the sole host, she will follow celebrity contestants as they compete against Grylls in South America. Holly is said to be ‘thrilled and excited’ about her new job, her first away from terrestrial television.
‘It is so wonderful to see Holly have a whole new start,’ says a friend of the star. ‘She has had a terrible year but what a way to end it. They say a year is a long time in showbusiness, and at times it has felt like a lifetime with everything that has happened.’
The week also marks the relaunch of This Morning, with Cat Deeley and Holly’s close friend Ben Shephard replacing Holly and Phil as permanent presenters. Ben was due to team up with Holly, 43, in Phil’s role until she quit the show last October after being left shaken by the alleged kidnap plot.
HOLLY, who will remain working at ITV on its skating show Dancing On Ice, is said to be happy for them both and will ‘always hold a special place in her heart’ for the show.
While Holly has had her husband Dan Baldwin at her side throughout the drama, as well as her three children Harry, Belle and Chester, it is her ‘girl gang’ that has pulled her through the dark times.
Along with Nicole and Shiarra, the likes of Christine Lampard, Emma Bunton and PR guru Niki de Metz have ‘kept her going’. I’m told there were times when Holly just wanted to hide from the outside world, even give up her glittering career as one of the country’s most famous presenters.
‘She doesn’t know what she would have done without them,’ says a friend of Holly’s. ‘It has been hard. There were tears and there were times when it felt impossible for Holly to smile but the girls managed to cheer her up. They have not left her, Holly has her family but sometimes you just need your mates.’
It is almost a year to the day when the life — and career — Holly had known for more than a decade, changed. Last March, just hours before she was due to arrive at the This Morning studio to present the show alongside costar Schofield, Holly was told he wouldn’t be there.
Later, Holly found out that Schofield had told only the upper echelons of ITV he had taken an extended break while his brother Timothy was on trial for sexually abusing a teenage boy.
It was far from common knowledge at the channel, where Schofield, 62, was viewed as a jewel in the crown of daytime television. Sources at the network say only a small number of senior staff were aware of the looming court case but not his sofa ‘wife’.
It was, I am told, the last straw for their 17-year friendship. His decision to keep secret his brother’s crime, for which he later was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison, ‘hurt’ Holly so much that things were irreparable between them.
When Phil arrived back, Holly was absent, citing illness. Once she returned, it wasn’t long before the tensions between them were so obvious that their loyal This Morning viewers began to notice something was amiss.
Then came the briefing wars that their friendship had come to an end. Phil decided to issue a statement calling Holly his ‘rock’ while admitting ‘the last few weeks haven’t been easy for either of us’.
THE first Holly knew of his words, released through his former talent agency, YMU, was when she saw them on The Sun’s website.
‘She was furious,’ a friend told me at the time. ‘The gloves really were off. There was no way back.’
Next, Phil was ousted from This Morning but ITV claimed to have offered him a new show to host. However, he later revealed he had had a long-standing affair with a much younger colleague — and then lied about it. Phil then quit ITV altogether and parted company with YMU.
It knocked Holly for six. One of the worst moments for Holly was the British public assuming she knew about Phil’s affair behind the back of his wife Stephanie Lowe.
Holly issued a statement which said: ‘When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if it was true and was told it was not. It’s been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie.’
Her comments prompted numerous attacks while some insisted she would surely have had suspicions given her closeness to Phil.
‘ It was awful, why blame a woman for a man’s crime?’ said a source close to the situation. ‘Why on earth would Phil tell Holly if he was trying to have a secret romance with a younger colleague, which he admits was unwise? Imagine discovering this about someone who has been your friend for so long?’
After a short break, Holly returned to the show but worse was to come. At the end of October a shopping centre security guard, Gavin Plumb, was charged with plotting to kidnap and murder the star — charges he denies.
Holly suddenly quit This Morning and went into hiding.
‘ Holly was frightened and shaken,’ said a friend. ‘So she took a much- needed break and surrounded herself with her loved ones. That got her through it all.’
The star kept a low profile until the week before Christmas when she enjoyed lunch at a restaurant close to her London home with husband Dan and her parents, Linda and Brian.
Sources close to Holly say there has been some communication between her and Phil since their fallout. Phil sent her a message, friends say, on WhatsApp, to ‘check in’ and see if she was OK. It is also understood that Holly had previously contacted him when she returned to This Morning.
But it is unlikely the pair, once so inseparable they holidayed in next- door villas on the Algarve, will ever reconcile. ‘Holly has moved on,’ says a friend. ‘It almost destroyed her but she has come out the other side.’
I’m told that Phil has no immediate plans to return to the limelight and is still ‘ licking his wounds’. He may be watching his former ‘bestie’s’ Netflix debut on TV — while trying not to think of what could have been.