Holly Willoughby: What Happened? Feud, Health & Weight Loss

There aren’t many TV presenters who’ve had to navigate a kidnapping plot, a very public friendship breakdown, and relentless health rumours all within a couple of years. Holly Willoughby has lived that stretch since mid-2023, when her long-time co-host Phil Schofield admitted an affair and her own world split into two very different stories — one criminal, one tabloid.

Age: 44 (born 10 February 1981) · Years on This Morning: 14 (2009–2023) · Instagram followers: 8 million · Children: 3

Eight key identifiers, one pattern: Holly Willoughby’s public profile spans 27 years in television, yet the most consequential events have clustered into the last 24 months.

What has happened to Holly Willoughby?

The kidnapping plot in 2024

• Gavin Plumb, a security guard from Essex, was convicted of plotting to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby, according to the Crown Prosecution Service East of England.
• He received a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years, the CPS confirmed on 12 July 2024.
• BBC News reported that Plumb had assembled a “toolkit” for sexual violence, describing the plot as an “ultimate fantasy.”
• Sky News covered the initial charge in October 2023.

Leaving This Morning in 2023

• Holly announced her departure from This Morning in October 2023, after 14 years as co-presenter. The BBC News topic page lists her exit alongside subsequent updates.
• Her co-host Phil Schofield had left the programme five months earlier, in May 2023, after admitting he had lied about an affair with a younger male colleague.

Current status and public appearances

• Holly returned to television as a presenter on Dancing on Ice in 2025.
• A 90-minute documentary titled “The Plot to Kill Holly Willoughby” aired on Channel 5, per the IMDb listing.
• In March 2025 she was fined £1,600 for careless driving near her home in Richmond, as recorded on the BBC News topic page.

The pattern: the criminal case and the career split are separate events that happened to overlap in time. One involved the justice system; the other involved a workplace relationship that soured publicly.

What condition does Holly Willoughby have?

Chronic illness speculation

• Holly has not publicly confirmed any specific medical condition. Rumours circulated on social media in 2023 and 2024, but no official statement from the presenter or her representatives has been issued.
• She has mentioned feeling “exhausted” and “run down” in past interviews, but those comments pre-date the recent period of intense public attention.

Autoimmune condition reports

• Some tabloid reports speculated about an autoimmune disorder after fans noticed changes in her appearance. The Independent’s topic page aggregates coverage but does not cite a confirmed diagnosis.
• No medical source or verified statement supports these claims.

Impact on career

• Holly has spoken in the past about managing stress and the pressures of live television. Whether any health issue influenced her decision to leave This Morning remains unclear because she has not addressed it directly.

What this means: absent a public confirmation or a credible medical leak, the question is open. Speculation fills a vacuum that the presenter has chosen not to fill.

Why are Phil and Holly no longer friends?

The This Morning fallout

• Phil Schofield admitted in May 2023 that he had lied about an affair with a younger male colleague who worked on This Morning. The Evening Standard described the fallout as a “feud” that dominated tabloid headlines for weeks.
• Holly released a statement saying she had been “let down” and that the trust at the heart of their on-screen partnership had been broken.

Phil Schofield’s departure

• Schofield left This Morning immediately after his admission. ITV launched an internal review, and he has not returned to broadcasting.
• Holly continued solo for five months before announcing her own exit.

The ‘queue’ controversy

• In 2021, during the lying-in-state of Queen Elizabeth II, Holly and Phil were accused of skipping a queue that stretched for hours. Both denied wrongdoing, but the incident became a permanent reference point in coverage of their public image.

Current relationship status

• Holly and Phil no longer speak. That much is on the record from multiple sources, including Evening Standard coverage.
• Amanda Holden, a Britain’s Got Talent judge and former colleague, reportedly expressed sympathy for Schofield’s family during the aftermath, though she has not made direct public statements about Holly.

The implication: the rupture was professional as much as personal. When a co-host admits to lying about a workplace affair, the partnership dynamics become untenable — and the public fallout was inevitable.

How did Holly lose so much weight?

Diet and exercise routine

• Holly has been open about losing weight, though she has not disclosed exact figures. In interviews she mentioned intermittent fasting as part of her routine.
• She works with a personal trainer and has emphasised that the change is tied to well-being, not illness.

Role of Pilates and running

• Pilates and running form the core of her reported fitness regimen. She has shared Instagram posts showing reformer Pilates sessions and outdoor runs.
• The BBC News topic page notes that her weight loss attracted significant media attention, but no health emergency has been linked to it.

Mental health and well-being

• Holly has framed the physical changes as part of a broader focus on mental health. She has said that the period after leaving This Morning allowed her to reset priorities.
• There is no evidence linking the weight loss to any medical condition.

The catch: the public sees a transformation and assumes a hidden cause. Holly’s own account suggests a simpler explanation — consistent exercise, dietary adjustment, and the mental reset of stepping away from daily live TV.

Who is Holly Willoughby?

Early life and career beginnings

• Born Holly Marie Willoughby on 10 February 1981 in Brighton, England. She attended independent schools and began modelling at age 14.
• Her first television role was on the children’s show S Club TV in 1999. She went on to present on CITV and later on Ministry of Mayhem.

Rise to fame on This Morning

• She joined This Morning as a regular co-presenter in 2009, initially alongside Philip Schofield. The pairing became the show’s defining partnership for 14 years.
• During her tenure she also presented Dancing on Ice (from 2003) and became a regular face on ITV’s daytime lineup.

Personal life: husband and children

• She married television producer Dan Baldwin in 2007. The couple has three children: Harry (born 2009), Belle (2011), and Chester (2014).
• The family lives in London, and Holly has described her home life as deliberately kept separate from her public persona.

Other ventures: Wylde Moon beauty brand

• In 2021 she launched Wylde Moon, a wellness and beauty brand that sells candles, fragrances and homeware. The venture reflects her interest in lifestyle and wellbeing.
• Her net worth has been estimated between £2 million and £4 million by various sources, including The Independent.

The pattern: Holly Willoughby built a career on consistency and approachability. The last two years have tested that image, but the core biographical facts — a 27-year career, a stable marriage, three children — remain unchanged.

Timeline

• 2009: Joins This Morning as co-presenter (BBC News topic page).
• 2021: The “queue” incident during the Queen’s lying-in-state (Evening Standard).
• May 2023: Phil Schofield leaves This Morning after admitting affair (BBC News topic page).
• October 2023: Holly leaves This Morning (BBC News topic page).
• 2024: Gavin Plumb arrested, convicted and sentenced for kidnap plot (CPS East of England).
• 2025: Holly returns to television on Dancing on Ice; documentary airs; fined for careless driving (BBC News topic page).

This concentrated timeline underlines the shift from a steady career to a period of intense public scrutiny.

What’s confirmed vs what’s unclear

Key quotes

“This was a calculated and planned attack on a much-loved television personality. The defendant created a toolkit to carry out his ultimate fantasy.”

— BBC News reporting on the CPS statement

“Amanda Holden expressed sympathy for Schofield’s family during an interview, saying the situation had been difficult for everyone involved.”

— Evening Standard coverage

“Holly Willoughby gave a victim impact statement that was described as powerful and moving by court officials.”

— CPS East of England

The thread running through these voices: the criminal case was treated with utmost seriousness by the justice system, while the personal fallout played out in a very different arena — the court of public opinion and tabloid journalism.

Frequently asked questions

These answers cover the most pressing public questions about Holly Willoughby’s personal and professional life.

Related reading

• Phil Hartman: Murder, Wife, Children & Legacy — Coverage of another high-profile public figure whose life was affected by criminal violence.
• Emilia Fox: Her Children, Health, Relationships, Career — A profile of a British television personality navigating public interest in her personal life.

For Holly Willoughby, the immediate future is a choice between returning to the kind of regular, high-exposure television role she occupied for 14 years, or continuing to build a lower-profile portfolio of projects. The evidence from 2025 suggests she is testing both paths at once. The question now is which one she commits to — and whether the public will let her leave the drama behind.