Holly Willoughby has left ITV’s This Morning with a touching farewell, only five months after her former co-host Phillip Schofield left the show.
Holly, 42, has had a rough week: on Wednesday, a guy called Gavin Plumb, 36, was arrested and accused with solicitation to do murder and incitement to commit kidnapping.
She has now taken the choice to leave the daily show for good.
You can read her whole statement, which she released on Instagram, here:
‘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 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.
‘Most of all, thank you to the wonderful viewers. You’ve been so loyal, so supportive and the best best company every day.
‘Richard and Judy said ‘we only look after this show, it will always belong to the viewers’. It’s been an honour to just be part of its story and I know this story has many chapters left to go. Sadly, however, I now I feel I have to make this decision for me and my family.
‘I will miss you all so much.
‘Holly.’
‘We are disappointed that Holly is leaving This Morning, but respect her choice, which we know will have been incredibly tough for her to make,’ said Kevin Lygo, general director of media and entertainment at ITV.
‘Holly is one of the best-loved, respected and most accomplished broadcasters in the UK.’
He continued: ‘She has been at the heart of This Morning for the past 14 years, and she is adored by our viewers.
‘Holly has brought her unique brand of warmth, energy, humour and fun to one of the country’s most popular daytime shows, and everyone on the programme will miss her enormously.’
‘She remains a much-loved member of the ITV family and we look forward to continuing to work with her in the future.’
Holly joined the daytime programme in 2009 and hosted alongside Schofield, 61, until May.
After he ‘agreed to step down from This Morning,’ Holly began presenting with lots of different presenters including Alison Hammond, Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle.
Holly has been absent from the programme since last week due to the alleged kidnap plot. She did not reference the incident in her social media post confirming her decision to leave ‘This Morning’.
The presenter has made the decision for herself as well as her family, which includes her husband Dan Baldwin and their children, 13-year-old son Harry, 11-year-old daughter Belle and eight-year-old Chester.
