Hearing Holly Willoughby swear is a bit like hearing your teacher let one slip at school. It feels illicit and taboo. Everyone giggles because it’s a break in the rules, a diversion off script that should never happen. And yet here we are on a Tuesday morning, not even 8am, and Willoughby is dropping the F-bomb and pouring a glass of Pinot Grigio with Stanley Tucci on the first episode of her new YouTube show Holly Willoughby Together (with Voy).
Suffice to say, we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto. And by Kansas, I mean This Morning – the wholesome ITV breakfast show on which Willoughby made her name before departing three years ago in the wake of a scandal involving her co-presenter pal Phillip Schofield, with Willoughby’s “Are you OK?” address to the nation being memed to oblivion. Billed as a lifestyle chat show – some episodes will focus on cooking, others on fashion and human interest stories – Together is an all-out, sponsor-backed attempt at relaunching her career after previous efforts, including a Bear Grylls survival show on Netflix, fell flat. (Voy, if you were wondering, is a health app specialising in weight loss). But more than a relaunch, it’s also a rebrand – hence the swearing, the wine, and the oh-so-casual peep-behind-the-curtain shots of the crew at work.
