A 36-year-old man has appeared in court charged over an alleged plot to kidnap and murder the TV personality Holly Willoughby.
Gavin Plumb, from Harlow, Essex, is charged with soliciting a man named David Nelson to commit murder, and incitement to commit kidnap between 2 October and 5 October in Harlow, Essex.
The charges state the defendant is accused of planning to assemble a “kidnap and restraint kit” and encouraging a third party to travel to the UK to carry out the alleged offences.
The 36-year-old appeared in the dock at Chelmsford magistrates court on Friday in a green T-shirt with the slogan “Aged to Perfection”, where he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth, address and where he worked.
The court heard Plumb is alleged to have conspired online with another man and created a “detailed plan” to carry out the offences. The other man had been due to arrive in the UK next week from the US, the court heard.
Plumb, who is reportedly a security officer at a shopping precinct in Harlow, was remanded in custody by District Judge Caroline Jackson to appear for a plea hearing at Chelmsford crown court on 3 November.
The This Morning presenter, 42, pulled out of the ITV show on Thursday and her London home is reportedly being guarded by police.
Det Supt Rob Kirby, from Essex and Kent serious crime directorate, said: “This was an extremely fast-paced investigation, with many of our officers and national partners working overnight to secure these charges.
“The safeguarding of any victim is paramount and we will continue to prioritise this and working with the Metropolitan police service as the investigation proceeds.”
Plumb was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap.
This Morning bosses were alerted to the alleged plot on Thursday morning and the presenter decided to pull out shortly before she was due to go on air, the Sun reported. Alison Hammond replaced Willoughby to present the show alongside Josie Gibson without explanation.
Gibson started the morning show as she said: “Look who’s joined me. It’s only the one and only Alison Hammond!”
Hammond said: “Oh, Josie! I hope you don’t mind, I got a bit jealous. I saw you and Holly, and you were talking about being blond and I thought: ‘I’m going to shake this up a bit. I’m getting in there.’ Is that OK? You don’t mind?”
A spokesperson for ITV said: “This news has come as a huge shock to everyone at This Morning and ITV. We are providing all of the support we can to Holly and her family at this incredibly distressing time.”
On This Morning on Friday, Dermot O’Leary and Hammond briefly addressed the events at the start of the show.
O’Leary said: “We are not going to talk too much about it but Holly is on the front pages after police arrested a 36-year-old man over an alleged kidnap plot. He has now been charged by Essex police.”
Hammond added: “We are obviously all shocked to hear the news and we want to send our love and biggest hugs to Holly and her family.”
ITV is understood to be providing round-the-clock security and support for Willoughby alongside the police at her home, where she lives with her husband and three children.
Willoughby appeared on social media channels on Wednesday, wishing her husband a happy birthday in an Instagram post, followed by another post before Wednesday’s programme listing that morning’s lineup of guests.
Willoughby’s ITV colleague Lorraine Kelly mentioned the story on Friday’s episode of her programme Lorraine, saying it was “very, very upsetting”.
She added: “Of course we are sending Holly all of our love and best wishes. That is a terrible thing to be having to go through for her and her family.”
