Piers Morgan has highlighted an eye-opening epiphany he had after learning that Holly Willoughby has left her long-running post as a presenter on This Morning.
On Tuesday, October 10, the 42-year-old announced her departure from the ITV show after 14 years in a message shared on social media.
Having previously anchored This Morning with Phillip Schofield, 61, until he stepped down earlier this year, Holly wrote: ‘I have let ITV know today that after 14 years, I will not be returning to This Morning.
‘To everyone who has ever worked on the show over the years, thank you so so much. This is such a difficult goodbye, you are incredible and I forever will be proud of what we’ve done together. Thank you to everyone at ITV for being supportive. To every guest who has sat on our sofa, thank you.’
The TV celebrity has received an outpouring of sympathy since the news, which came only days after a guy named Gavin Plumb, 36, was arrested and accused with soliciting murder and inciting her kidnapping.
Piers, 58, paid tribute to Holly on X (previously Twitter) on Wednesday, while also making an eye-opening statement about her departure.
The broadcaster tweeted a snapshot from his days hosting Good Morning Britain on the social networking site, in which he sat beside his former co-host Susanna Reid behind the ITV studio table, alongside ex-This Morning stars Holly and Phillip.
Congrats @susannareid100 – you win ITV morning show presenter Survivor! pic.twitter.com/uUqjKZctlV
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) October 11, 2023
‘Congrats @susannareid100 – you win ITV morning show presenter Survivor!’ he wrote alongside the picture, as Susanna is now the sole person out of the four still fronting an ITV programme through her role on GMB.
Piers uploaded a selfie of himself with Holly in another message earlier in the morning.
‘Sending love and support to my old mate @hollywills who’s had a very difficult year, and a horribly scary time recently, and is rightly now putting her family first,’ he wrote.
‘Holly’s a class act on and off screen – warm, funny, smart and talented.
I wish her all the best.’
Sending love and support to my old mate @hollywills who’s had a very difficult year, and a horribly scary time recently, and is rightly now putting her family first. Holly’s a class act on and off screen – warm, funny, smart and talented.
I wish her all the best. pic.twitter.com/4dfzT2OOsj— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) October 11, 2023
Piers talked kindly of Holly on his TalkTV show on Tuesday, telling viewers, ‘I’ve known her a long time, a lot of fun with her over the years, what you see is what you get.’
However, not everyone has been sympathetic to Holly’s departure from This Morning.
Ulrika Jonsson replied to an Instagram image that mocked Holly’s departure, showing a blonde Wilko employee wandering through an empty shop with the caption: ‘Holly Willoughby walking around the This Morning studio.’
Ulrika, 56, responded to the account’s description of the ‘end of an era’ by saying, ‘Or the end of a mistake.’
Ulrika earlier described Holly and Phillip’s reported feud as a “war of egos.”
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.
