They say home is where the heart is. But Holly Willoughby’s £3million family abode in west London was tainted forever last year, after it was revealed to be the focal point of a plot to kidnap, rape and murder her. Now, the beloved TV presenter – who’s been taking tentative steps at a come back in the wake of the foiled plot and the imprisonment of the man behind it – has taken another brave step by making the difficult decision to move out of the house that she and her family loved so much. According to insiders, it was a “tough choice” – but the right one for her and her TV producer husband Dan Baldwin, and their three children.
‘Holly never wanted to sell her family home, but it has been irrevocably tarnished by what happend,’ an insider close to the 43 year old tells heat. ‘Sadly, there’s a part of her that will never feel safe there again.’
Last week, removal vans were spotted outside the six-bedroom property that Holly has lived in with Dan and their three children, Harry, 15, Belle, 13, and Chester, ten, for over 10 years. It’s certainly been a tumultuous time for the family, whose foundations were rocked to the core after it was revealed in October 2023 that Holly was the target of a kidnap and murder plot.
The then This Morning presenter immediately quit the show, saying she was doing it ‘for me and my family’ – and, apart from presenting Dancing On Ice in January and filming an upcoming show for Netflix in May, she has spent the large part of the year avoiding the spotlight and processing the fact that someone attempted to take her life.
In July this year the mum of three was given a small amount of closure, after Gavin Plumb, a previously-convicted offender, was found guilty of soliciting her murder, encouraging or assisting the commission of kidnap, and encouraging or assisting the commission of rape. The security guard, who had been ‘obsessed’ with Holly for years, was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 16 years. But it was the details behind his deadly schemes that undermined Holly’s sense of security in her own home forever.
In chilling voice notes and messages, it was revealed that Plumb had planned to target the star at her house, ‘jump the outer wall’ and ‘break in’, before sedating Holly and Dan with chloroform and tying them both up. The shocked jury also heard how he’d acquired a ‘kidnap kit’ of restraints and weapons, including bottles of chloroform, handcuffs and rope.
Following his conviction and sentencing, Holly told her followers, ‘As women, we should not be made to feel unsafe about going about our daily lives and in our homes,’ but – as our source explains – the damage was done when it came to feeling safe in her own home. Holly’s since enjoyed a restorative summer with her family – but a new school year, and new work projects, warrants a new beginning.
‘Everything in Holly’s life had more or less been put on hold until after the trial, as much as she tried to put a brave face on things,’ says our insider.
‘Obviously, she still had some commitments to fulfil and she wanted to keep things as normal as she could for the children, but now feels like the perfect time for a fresh start. She never wanted to leave the family home. It was a tough decision as her children have grown up there, but she knows this is right for the family. They’re not going far, as both she and Dan work in London and she doesn’t want to disrupt the kids while they’re at school – especially Harry, as he’s doing his GCSEs this year, but part of her would like to live in the middle of nowhere and just be surrounded by her family and lots of space.’
Speaking of space, it won’t have gone unnoticed that, while Holly was packing up and starting afresh, her former co-presenter and BFF was going more further afield in his bid to turn the page. This week, Channel 5 aired Phillip Schofield’s new survival show, Cast Away, which saw the fallen TV presenter spending 10 days alone on an island off Madagascar with ‘no phone, no comforts, no crew and only lip balm as a luxury’.
This is the first project Phillip has made since he resigned from This Morning in May 2023 following an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a much younger colleague, which he tried to cover up and reportedly lied about to friends and colleagues, including Holly. Phillip said the three-part show was his ‘story of survival, both on a desert island and off it’.
But his decision to posture himself as a survivor and victim – comparing his experience to the way his career has been marooned for the past year-and-a-half – was received with some derision from critics. After all, fans are still bruised by the way he misled so many and, rather than being the victim, was ostensibly the one with all the power in his affair with his younger colleague, who reportedly hasn’t worked since.
Phillip’s return to the spotlight has, undoubtedly, raised some complicated feelings for Holly, whose once close friendship with her former co-star has never recovered. But, according to our source, she’s focusing on her own healing. This new house is just the beginning – she’s also got her big TV comeback coming up in autumn, when she’ll front a reboot of the classic gameshow You Bet! alongside her old friend Stephen Mulhern. From then on, she’s open to all opportunities that come her way.
‘Holly feels she has to move on with her life and try to forget about the horror of the past couple of years,’ we’re told. ‘She’s excited about her TV comeback with her new shows, and she’s focusing on all the positive things in her life.’
With new foundations being laid at home and at work, we’re sure it’s only a matter of time that Holly’s feeling back to her best – and safe and sound once more.