She was once TV’s golden girl, but Holly Willoughby’s on-screen future has been left looking uncertain. After it was revealed that Dancing On Ice has been axed, she’s been left without a prime-time ITV show for the first time in 21 years. There’s also no confirmation there’ll be a second series of Netflix’s Celebrity Bear Hunt, with a TV insider telling heat it’s looking unlikely to be recommissioned.
And while Holly is devastated to lose DOI – which she first joined 19 years ago, hosting alongside Phillip Schofield before Stephen Mulhern replaced him last year – we’re told she’s already thinking about her next project, and the sky is the limit.
‘Holly is absolutely gutted that Dancing On Ice is over, but sadly, it had run its course. This is a massive blow for her – it’s hurt her ego. However, Holly is picking herself back up, and wants to be the number one ITV girl again. She loved doing Bear Hunt, but she wants to be on prime-time ITV with her own show, rather than sharing the limelight with someone else.’
Holly has been a familiar face on ITV for years. Along with DOI – which was previously put on hiatus in 2014, before returning in 2019 – she fronted This Morning for 14 years until 2023, stepping down after it was revealed she’d been the target of a kidnap, rape and murder plot.
Last month she declined a chance to a co-host a full series of game show reboot You Bet! with Stephen, 47, due to scheduling conflicts. Now, our source says, she’s working hard, looking for new opportunities. ‘Holly wants to focus on fresh ideas. Even though there are no firm plans for her own show at the moment, ITV have said they’re open to suggestions,’ we’re told.
Luckily, Holly has a secret weapon: TV producer husband Dan Baldwin, 50 – with whom she shares children Harry, 15, Belle, 13, and Chester, 10. Having been responsible for the hugely successful Gladiators reboot, his production company is now working on a new version of classic kids’ TV show Record Breakers. He’s also teased a revival of Blind Date, with Holly a rumoured host.
Our insider tells us, ‘If Blind Date does come back, that’s something Holly would be up for. Dan has been a huge support for Holly. He’s reassured her that Dancing On Ice being put on indefinite hiatus was nothing to do with her – it just that the format had gotten a bit tired.
‘He’s been giving her lots of advice and she’s determined to take her career to the next level.’
