SHE’S a wide-eyed innocent, a naive fawn, the girl next door – or at least that’s what Holly Willoughby’s team would like you to think.
Don’t believe a word of it.
Holly has passively watched as Dancing on Ice rolled under a bus[/caption]
The speed at which she distanced herself from fellow This Morning host Phillip Schofield in early 2023 was palpable[/caption]
After launching the rebooted You Bet! in 2024, to mediocre ratings, she is now walking away from her own show[/caption]
That might be the warm, fuzzy, familiar face who greets us when we turn on our TVs but, make no mistake, you’re dealing with a very calculated operator.
And nothing could illustrate that more than the past 48 hours.
In that time Holly – who’s already consigned This Morning to her distant past – has passively watched as Dancing on Ice rolled under a bus and then simultaneously had it confirmed that she wouldn’t be returning to her last remaining show with ITV, You Bet!
Which means that after more than two decades with ITV she’s free. Free to finally conquer the BBC.
Free to milk the streamers for a cool £10million (at least) and free to become one of the most powerful women on TV, if she chooses. And she will, just you watch.
Because Holly has always shown a quiet, simmering ambition ever since she took her first steps in children’s telly.
Between then and now she’s quit her management agency, YMU, and hired an elite PR team to help boost her image.
The speed at which she distanced herself from fellow This Morning host Phillip Schofield in early 2023 was also palpable.
Then six months later she quit the show entirely as a result of a murder and kidnap plot, just before signing up to front Netflix’s Celebrity Bear Hunt.
And don’t forget that after launching the rebooted You Bet! in 2024, to mediocre ratings, she is now walking away from her own show, claiming that she “couldn’t commit.”
In other words she’s got a better offer…well, good for her.
Because she’s a woman she’ll be perceived as scheming, savage and selfish. But if it were anyone else the descriptions would veer more towards: single-minded, shrewd and selective.
Whatever you think of her, Holly is on the move and on the up – and I wouldn’t advise getting in her way.
