The 'meaning' behind Holly Willoughby's This Morning…

The 'meaning' behind Holly Willoughby's This Morning return outfit revealed

Holly Willoughby made her return to This Morning as the fallout from Phillip Schofield's affair admission continues. The presenter has been absent from the programme for a fortnight after initially extended her break when her former co-star 'stepped back' from the show.

However, Phillip later admitted to lying to Holly, his employers, and others over a relationship with a much younger ITV colleague. The 61-year-old had previously announced that he had stepped from This Morning after rumours of a feud between them dominated headlines, but following his statement announcing that he was leaving ITV with immediate effect.

It has subsequently been reported that the friendship between the pair is on the rocks after he admitted to the 'unwise but not illegal' affair. Holly later released a statement saying that she felt 'hurt' that she had been lied to. ITV bosses also said that they felt they had been 'badly let down' by the presenter.

She has since addressed the scandal head on in a statement read out live on air as she returned to the helm of This Morning on Monday (June 5).

She started by addressing her former colleague and friend by name before not mentioning him again. Holly said: "Firstly, are you OK? I hope so. It feels very strange indeed sitting here without Phil. And I imagine that you might have been feeling a lot like I have – shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the wellbeing of people on all sides of what’s been going on, and full of questions."

Dressed in a sleeveless white buttoned dress, mum-of-three Holly continued: "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. I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal, for the health and wellbeing of everyone."

Holly's outfit for her first This Morning appearance back has been analysed (ITV)

Holly then thanked viewers for their support, saying: "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."

She concluded: "Myself, Josie, Dermot (O’Leary), Alison (Hammond), Craig (Doyle), and every single person that works on this show will continue to work hard every single day to bring you that, this show that we love," before sharing a hug with Josie and cracking on with the show as usual.

And a body language expert has now claimed that Holly deliberately wore white to convince ITV viewers of her 'innocence' before a 'saccharine' speech aimed at showing it is business as usual on This Morning despite Phillip's departure. Judi James has said Josie was acting as her 'bodyguard' as they held back tears and behaved like 'survivors of a disaster'.

Her speech was 'religious in tone', Judi said via the Daily Mail, as she tried to connect with viewers, asking if they were ok. "Could Holly’s intro speech steer the This Morning show back into the world of saccharine sweetness after the ongoing dark dramas? Wearing white to promote innocence and with Josie sitting beside her like a protective carer might sit beside the survivor of some disaster, Holly immediately grasped Josie’s hand before launching into her speech," Judi explained.

"A sigh and a puff of air from the mouth announced inner tension. Her ‘Are you ok?’ to her audience threw out the opportunity to share in the trauma."

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