Holly Marie Willoughby (/ˈwɪləbi/ WIL-ə-bee; born 10 February 1981)[1][2] is an English television presenter, author and model.

[3][5] In 1995, at the age of 14, Willoughby was spotted by talent scouts at The Clothes Show Live exhibition and signed with the model agency, Storm Management.

[citation needed] From 1998, at the age of 17, Willoughby started modelling bras, underwear and tights for clients including Pretty Polly, appearing in advertisements and posters.

[11] In 2006, she was chosen to co-present, with Phillip Schofield, the television show Dancing on Ice,[12] in which celebrities are partnered with professional dancers to learn ice-dancing routines which are judged by a panel of experts and voted on by audiences.

[13][14] Willoughby has presented a number of other ITV programmes, including spin-off shows such as Celebrity Wrestling: Bring It On in 2005, Greased Lightnin' in 2007, and The Xtra Factor for two years in 2008 and 2009.

[16] Willoughby began co-presenting ITV's This Morning with Schofield in September 2009 until his departure in May 2023, replacing Fern Britton.

In 2011, Willoughby co-presented charity telethon Text Santa with Ant & Dec. She returned to co-host the show with Schofield in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

[32] In 2018, Willoughby and Schofield made a cameo appearance on Coronation Street, when they interviewed Rosie Webster, Craig Tinker and Gemma Winter on This Morning.

[34] In December 2019, during the 2019 general election, Willoughby and Schofield were criticised by some viewers for a "giggly" interview with then prime minister Boris Johnson.

[citation needed] Some viewers argued that the pair had been more critical when interviewing Jeremy Corbyn, who faced repeated calls to apologise for accusations of antisemitism in the Labour Party.

[39] Amid the death and state funeral of Elizabeth II on 17 September 2022, Willoughby and Schofield drew criticism on social media for not joining the queue for the lying-in-state of the queen with the public, when filming in Westminster Hall.

ITV said that Schofield and Willoughby were escorted from the press gallery by government staff and did not file past the Queen's coffin.

Some social media users contrasted this with the actions of figures including David Beckham and Susanna Reid, who queued for many hours with members of the general public.

[41] In a statement to the Daily Mail on 26 May, Schofield admitted that, before leaving his wife in 2020, he had carried on an extramarital affair with a younger male ITV co-worker.

[42][43] Willoughby, who had previously said she was hurt that Schofield had lied to her when she asked about the rumours,[44] returned to This Morning on 5 June for the first time since his departure.

"[46] She expressed concern for Schofield's mental health, thanked viewers for their kindness and support, and said "what unites us all now is a desire to heal.

[54] On 4 October 2023, Gavin Plumb, a 36-year-old man from Harlow, was arrested for solicitation and incitement over an alleged plot to abduct and murder Willoughby.

[55] He was accused of contacting another man in the United States, who was in fact an undercover police officer, and asking him to come to the UK for the purpose of kidnapping and murdering Willoughby.

[61] At Chelmsford Crown Court on 12 July, Mr Justice Murray sentenced Plumb to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years.

At Willoughby's request, her victim impact statement was not released to the public, but was mentioned by the prosecution as showing "catastrophic" consequences.