Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield’s shock reunion
Is Holly ready to put the past behind her?
heat staff |
It has been a rocky few weeks for Holly Willoughby after Dancing On Ice was axed after 19 years, leaving her without a primetime ITV show for the first time since 2004. And while she was left licking her wounds, Holly was dealt another blow last week, as an old foe from the past launched a fresh attack on TV’s former golden girl.
Kim Woodburn famously clashed with Holly, 44, and her former co-host Phillip Schofield on This Morning back in 2017, and the How Clean Is Your House? star has now reignited their feud by branding Holly ‘useless’ in the wake of DOI’s axing.
Kim, 83, said, ‘When a presenter gets a job, you always hope they will choose the right person for that job, and unfortunately, in my opinion, Holly Willoughby is useless.’
Holly Willoughby currently has no TV work lined up ©Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images
Despite Kim’s issues with Phil – with their on-air argument racking up over six million views online – she labelled him ‘extremely entertaining’, and claimed that Holly ‘got her career and money on Phil’ and wouldn’t have landed her roles on This Morning or Dancing On Ice without him.
And a source tells heat that Kim’s latest comments have struck a nerve with Holly as she finds herself with no big work commitments in the pipeline. Just weeks before it was announced that Dancing On Ice – which was previously put on a five-year hiatus in 2014 – wouldn’t be returning again, it was revealed Holly had turned down a full series of the You Bet! reboot, which she fronted alongside her DOI co-host and pal Stephen Mulhern last year.
And her Netflix show Celebrity Bear Hunt is yet to be renewed for a second series by the streaming giant, with a TV insider telling heat that’s looking unlikely. Now, Holly has been left wondering if her success really was all down to her on-screen partnership with Phillip, 63.
Phillip quit This Morning almost two years ago ©Mike Marsland/WireImage
We’re told, ‘Holly would never let something like this affect her, but over the past few months, she’s started to wonder whether it really was pinned more on having Phil as her sidekick than she thought, so Kim’s words have further sparked paranoia. Deep down, Holly’s been thinking the same thing and is filled with panic over her future.’
Phillip and Holly first worked together on Dancing On Ice when it launched in 2006, and he handpicked her to replace Fern Britton on This Morning when she left the show in 2009. The pair quickly became synonymous with one another and their friendship blossomed off-screen, with their families holidaying together over the years.
However, the partnership came crashing down in May 2023, when it was revealed Phillip had an affair with a younger colleague, and he resigned from both shows with immediate effect. While Holly remained on Dancing On Ice, she stepped down from This Morning herself just five months later, after it emerged she had been the subject of a horrifying kidnap, rape and murder plot.
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And although a reunion with Phillip is not something Holly has imagined before now, it has been suggested it may be necessary to boost her career. Our source continues, ‘Holly’s been meeting with PR experts who have suggested the idea of making things right with Phil. She’s wondering if a reconciliation between them could be the key to reigniting her career and getting her crown back as TV’s golden girl. While Holly is wincing at the idea, given the recent turn of events, she’s now starting to wonder if it really is the key to her comeback.’
The insider adds, ‘A one-off show where they reunite and get everything out on the table in a big sit-down has been suggested. While the thought terrifies Holly and she’s incredibly unlikely to go through with it, she also knows that now is crunch time and the idea of falling from grace is not a path she wants to go down.’
