She’s more than accustomed to the unpredictability of live TV, to thinking on her feet, keeping calm and carrying on come what may. But today, for the first time, Holly Willoughby was visibly nervous.
This Morning started with some hastily cobbled together new opening credits – huge on-screen graphics detailing the topics that would be covered, replacing the old cosy shots of Phil’n’Holly at their chummy best.
Wearing white, (subliminal message: I'm whiter than?) she bizarrely thanked Josie Gibson for being there – as though she was a mate who’d selflessly rocked up to provide support rather than a professional presenter booked and being handsomely paid to do a job.
Obviously the decision to move away from the this-show-is-just-one-big-happy-family narrative – which surely not a single person in the universe is still buying now, if they ever did – has not been taken.
Holly began by saying, “Right, deep breath. First of all are you ok?”
Hmmm… Slightly patronising, disingenuous start. Particularly as she didn’t wait for an answer, and couldn’t have heard what it was anyway.
Holly continued: “I hope so. It feels very strange indeed to be sitting here without Phil.”
What?! You don’t say Voldemort’s name out loud! Luckily she stopped at once, because as everyone knows, if you utter it three times he appears and grabs your wand, and that’s what got them into this mess in the first place.
“I imagine that you might have been feeling a lot like I have,” Holly went on. Unfortunately photos of her on a beach enjoying a luxurious half-term break at her Portuguese holiday home appeared over the weekend, during this cost of living crisis so, er, not exactly, Holly, no.
“Shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the wellbeing of people on all sides of what’s been going on and full of questions,” she clarified.
“You, me and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth, who acted in a way that they themselves felt that they had to resign from ITV and step down from a career that they loved. That is a lot to process. And it’s equally hard to see the toll that it’s taken on their own mental health.”
Smart to acknowledge that Phil is struggling, and to show a smidgeon of empathy, even if it’s just a back-covering sentiment.
“I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal for the health and wellbeing of everyone.”
Sorry, what? Heal for the health? Bearing in mind this statement has probably been re-written more times than the Bible, it should at least make sense, no?
“I hope that as we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, we can find strength in each other. And from my heart, can I just say thank you for all of your kind messages and thank you for being here this morning. Myself, Josie, Dermot, Alison, Craig and every single person that works on this show will continue to work hard every single day to bring you the show that we love.”
Josie then gave her an utterly spontaneous hug, and it was back to business as normal. The whole thing was over in a minute and a half.
Holly was basically damned if she did and damned if she didn’t here. If she hadn’t acknowledged Schofe-gate, it would have been extremely odd, an elephant in the room that might have crushed the show once and for all.
But doing so, knowing even more eyes than normal would be on her, and having to come up with the exact right words, delivered in the exact right way, was a lot of pressure. Her statement did feel slightly robotic and not entirely genuine, but there’s pretty much no way it couldn’t have. And now, like, life, the show must go on.
