She returned to our screens last weekend for the first time since announcing her departure from This Morning in October.
And now, insiders say that Holly Willoughby – who is back at the helm of Dancing On Ice alongside Stephen Mulhern – has been approached by a raft of TV producers to lift the lid on her tumultuous 2023 in a tell-all documentary.
After the presenter’s live TV comeback was a hit with viewers, a source says, “Holly was very apprehensive about getting back on TV and was so thankful for the support of her friends, family and the public.
“But she knows the This Morning and Phil [Schofield] scandal is not going to go away. She’s been inundated with offers to tell her side of the story now she’s back in the public eye. She’s at the centre of a TV bidding war again and that includes a complete tell-all on what really went on in some form of documentary.”
After 14 years on This Morning, Holly, 42, released a statement in October revealing that she would not be returning to ITV’s flagship daytime show. “I feel I have to make this decision for me and my family,” she wrote, signing off, “I will miss you all so much.”
The news came just five months after her former best friend and long-running co-presenter Phillip, 61, resigned from his roles at ITV following the admission of lying about an affair with a younger colleague. At the time, Holly was accused of knowing about the deceit, something both she and Phillip strenuously denied.
And now, a source says that while Holly would like to draw a line under the situation, she has been advised that speaking out could be the only way to achieve that.
“Bosses will need to offer her a lot of money to get her to talk properly,” the insider shares. “There could be a book deal and interviews so she could earn somewhere in the region of £1m for doing it all. She wouldn’t necessarily criticise people, including Phil, but she would prove her innocence.
“She felt very privileged to be trusted with This Morning for all those years and she misses the show and viewers terribly. But she had to leave for the sake of her family. They will always come first.”
And our insider adds that instead of the turmoil putting strain on Holly’s marriage, it’s made her and husband Dan Baldwin – with whom she shares Harry, 14, Belle, 12, and nine-year-old Chester – even stronger. The couple have always shared an unspoken pact to always support each other.
The source says, “He’d be 100 per cent behind her if she decided to do a tell-all as he thinks she was unfairly punished and needs to tell everyone what really went on. Now she’s had precious time with her family, she’s ready to come back fighting.”