Holly: I was so insecure about my looks I wouldn’t leave home without make-up
SHE’S been lighting up our TV screens for more than a decade with her talent and girl-next-door beauty.
But Holly Willoughby has admitted that only now does she feel happy enough with her looks to leave the house without wearing make-up.
The ITV presenter, 37, currently hosting I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here, said she was once so insecure she wouldn’t even go to the shops without at least applying mascara.
‘I feel like now I’m getting older, I’m much happier with my face as it is now than when I was younger,’ she said.
‘ There was a time where I wouldn’t go out of the house without at least putting mascara on. Now I literally don’t care. I’m not afraid of how I look in the mirror.’
In an interview with Red magazine, she also revealed how she maintains a work-life balance despite presenting duties including early starts for This Morning.
The former model said she dedicates the weekends solely to her family – husband Dan Baldwin, 43, and their children Harry, nine, Belle, seven, and Chester, four.
‘I don’t really see anybody,’ she told Red. ‘I turn down a lot of stuff – even friend stuff – and because they’re friends, they understand that I just want to be able to sit at home, order a takeaway and watch telly with my family.’
Despite juggling her successful career with raising three children under ten, she said it was a ‘misconception’ that she wants to ‘have it all’.
The presenter has admitted that her family and work obligations forced her to pull out of a deal with Dragon’s Den star Peter Jones. The pair had been due to launch lifestyle brand Truly this autumn, but Miss Willoughby dropped out in September, fearing the venture would affect her time with her family.
She said the project would need ‘total dedication’ but that with her ‘many other commitments’ she could not do the role without ruining her work-life balance.
‘ The biggest misconception about me is that people seem to think that I want it all and that I had it all, and I walked away from having it all,’ she said. ‘That was never part of it. I never wanted it all.’ Miss Willoughby has received glowing reviews from fans for her role on I’m A Celebrity alongside Declan Donnelly, who is hosting the jungle reality show without Ant McPartlin for the first time.
Her daily fashion choices in particular have caused a stir, with many of the pieces selling out online after she features them on her social media pages.
‘I’m not completely straight up and down, I’m curvy, so I think I’m sort of a normal shape, wearing normal clothes,’ she said. ‘That makes people go, “Oh yes, I might look like that in that”.’
But she insisted that her style has to be ‘functional’ to cope with her busy family life.
Noel Edmonds yesterday denied claims of a feud with Miss Willoughby and says they hugged and made up after his shock exit from I’m a Celebrity. They fell out during a heated debate over cancer on This Morning in 2016.
Edmonds, 69, was the first to be eliminated from the Australian jungle on Friday. On Good Morning Britain yesterday, he said: ‘I respect Holly as a broadcaster. We had a spat on This Morning. We hugged. There is no feud.’
The full interview with Miss Willoughby appears in the January issue of Red, on sale today.
‘Happier than when I was younger’