It’s been a tough couple of years for Holly Willoughby, but it finally seems like the star is coming out the other side as she gets set for her big TV return. This month, Holly, 43, and pal Stephen Mulhern will host a reboot of iconic game show You Bet!, and in the new year, they’ll also return to front a new series of Dancing On Ice.
Then in February, Holly – who shares children Harry, 15, Belle, 13, and Chester, 10, with husband Dan Baldwin – will embark on a brand-new challenge, teaming up with Bear Grylls for Netflix’s I’m A Celebrity-style show Bear Hunt. As she gears up for a busy few months, fans have noticed that Holly is back regularly posting updates to social media – and sources have told heat it’s all a deliberate plot to propel her stardom to new heights.
‘Holly has been keeping herself busy since leaving This Morning with various projects, but she knows it’s now crunch time,’ says our insider.
‘She’s known for light entertainment, and while she still loves doing shows like You Bet!, she doesn’t want to just go on like this. She’s eager to do something big and bold that will start a brand new chapter for her, so she’s been in talks to start her own programme, anchoring a daily current affairs show. ITV are in talks to facilitate this, with a new cutting-edge narrative and treatments to hook in younger viewers and a crossover onto live streaming platforms. Holly is pegged to be the face of a change in TV as we know it.’
Holly is hoping all this marks a new start for her after a rocky couple of years. Her troubles began with a public backlash for appearing to skip the queue at the lying-in-state of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. This was then followed by the breakdown of her relationship with her TV husband – and real-life best friend – Phillip Schofield in 2023, after he admitted to having an affair with a younger male colleague and, finally, she was the subject of a terrifying kidnap and murder plot, which resulted in her stepping down from This Morning after 13 years of presenting. Former security guard Gavin Plumb was jailed for life this summer, and soon after, Holly and her family moved from the £3m home that had been at the centre of his plot.
But Holly is now ready to draw a line under that chapter of her life as she looks to the future, with the source telling us that she has ambitions to launch a new all-female talk show and enlist some of her celebrity pals to help out. ‘Holly wants the likes of Kate Thornton, Nicole Appleton and Emma Bunton involved, and even Fearne Cotton if she can persuade her to get back on screen,’ we’re told. ‘She loves what Fearne has achieved with her Happy Place podcast, creating a safe space to talk about mental health and wellbeing – and she would love for Fearne to bring her expertise. It’s still in the early stages – but right now she’s feeling excited. She wants to do things that matter and not just be known for light entertainment.’
Holly’s idea stems from when she reportedly pitched an all-female episode of This Morning in 2023 to coincide with International Women’s Day, but was instead told she could open the episode surrounded by female members of the show’s cast and crew in a segment that ran for just two minutes.
‘Holly has been wanting to do something all-female ever since she got shot down by producers,’ says our source, ‘She’s not interested in rivalling Loose Women because this would be slightly younger and edgier. She wants to do a bold new take on girl power and have smart women talking to inspiring people across the country – women who are entrepreneurs or who have been through incredibly hard times, but shown resilience, much like Holly has with her kidnapping ordeal.’
Holly is also setting her sights on breaking America after joining Netflix, and is hoping Bear Hunt will bring her an entire new audience when it airs next year. ‘Her husband Dan is her absolute rock as she moves into this new and very exciting year – 2025 is going to be big. She wants to go global,’ the source adds.
And while Holly, who has an estimated net worth of £10million, is far from short of money, she is making less income since giving up her reported £730,000-a-year payday from This Morning and walking away from big-money brand ambassador deals with M&S and Diet Coke to grow her wellness brand Wylde Moon – which has just £1,885 in the bank, according to financial statements filed in July.
The source adds, ‘She's definitely not skint, but she needs to keep the money coming in to maintain the lifestyle she's become used to. Paying for a new house, the kids’ schools, holidays, clothes, the works. And big investors are aligning with her already. New brands want to collaborate, doing things she hasn’t done before as until now she has played it safe. This is a whole new roll-out for 2025 – creating a new image.’
Holly is starting to branch out with other deals, and recently shared an Instagram ad showing her playing the game Boxbollen – which has also been plugged by the likes of Khloé Kardashian, Wayne Rooney and Jessica Simpson – with her family on social media.
‘With everything she’s been through, Holly feels stronger than ever,’ we’re told. ‘She feels she can offer the viewing public something more substantial than what they’re used to seeing from her.’