Holly Willoughby

Holly Willoughby
Willoughby at the premiere of Happy Feet
Born	Holly Marie Willoughby (1981-02-10) 10 February 1981 Brighton, England
Residence	London, England
Nationality	British
Education	Burgess Hill Girls
Alma mater	The College of Richard Collyer
Occupation	TV presenter model
Years active	2000–present
Employer	ITV
Television	Dancing on Ice (2006–2011) Holly & Fearne Go Dating (2007) Streetmate (2007) Celebrity Juice (2008—) The Xtra Factor (2008–2009) This Morning (2009—) Text Santa (2011–2013, 2015) The Voice UK (2012–2013) Surprise Surprise (2012—) Play to the Whistle (2015—) Meet The Parents (2016—)
Spouse(s)	Dan Baldwin (m. 2007)
Children	3
Website	officialhollywilloughby.com

Holly Marie Willoughby (born 10 February 1981)^[1][2] is an English television presenter and model, best known for her television work with ITV.

She has presented a number of television programmes alongside Phillip Schofield such as Dancing on Ice (2006–2011) and This Morning (2009–present). She is also a team captain on the ITV2 show Celebrity Juice (2008–present) and currently presents Surprise Surprise (2012–present), Play to the Whistle (2015–present) and Meet the Parents (2016–present), all for ITV.

Early life

The younger of two daughters of a sales manager of a double-glazing company and an air stewardess,^[3] Willoughby was educated at the independent Burgess Hill Girls in the town of Burgess Hill in West Sussex. She went on to attend the College of Richard Collyer in Horsham.^[4]

In 1995, at the age of 14, Willoughby was spotted by talent scouts at The Clothes Show Live exhibition. Storm Model Management signed her up.^[5] She appeared in teen magazines for girls such as Mizz, Just Seventeen and More! From 1998, at the age of 17, Willoughby started modelling underwear for clients including Pretty Polly appearing in advertisements and posters.

Career

Children's presenting

Vashi Dominguez with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Scholfield on ITV's This Morning

In 2000, Willoughby won an audition for a show on CITV featuring S Club 7 called S Club TV.^[6] In this show actors represented an alternative S Club.^[7] She also appeared in a show called S Club 7: Artistic Differences playing a character called Zoe with the regular members of the band.^[8] Willoughby worked as a receptionist for a while and then as a runner for the defunct shopping channel Auction World TV.

Willoughby also took on menial jobs and started an Open University course in psychotherapy. Then eventually, she found work as assistant manager during which time she persuaded a friend to make a showreel of her. This secured her an agent who then contacted the BBC.^[6] Later in 2000, Willoughby presented a factual entertainment programme for children called Xchange and went on to host several other children's shows for CBBC: X-perimental and CBBC at the Fame Academy (CBBC's version of the BBC talent show Fame Academy).

Willoughby's first role as a children's entertainer came when she rejoined CITV in 2004 to co-present their entertainment show Ministry of Mayhem which aired on Saturday mornings. On this programme she met her future husband Dan Baldwin, one of the show's producers. In 2006, the show's title was changed to Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown in order to reflect the popularity of its co-presenters, Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern.

In 2005, Willoughby presented Feel the Fear, a children's entertainment programme in which the presenters are set unnerving challenges. She has also had a number of minor appearances on other children's programmes. She co-presented the final of the children's version of Stars in Their Eyes in 2004. Willoughby presented CD:UK for a short while in the spring of 2005, replacing Cat Deeley before Myleene Klass became the regular presenter.

2006–2008

In 2006 she was chosen to co-present with Phillip Schofield, the television show Dancing on Ice,^[9] where celebrities are partnered with professional dancers to learn ice-dancing routines which are judged by a panel of experts and voted on by the public. Willoughby remained in the role until 2011 due to new commitments.^[10][11] Willoughby has presented a number of other ITV programmes, including spin-off shows such as Celebrity Wrestling: Bring It On in 2005, Greased Lightnin' in 2007 and The Xtra Factor for two years in 2008 and 2009.

In 2007, she took over from Davina McCall as the presenter of Streetmate, a dating game show during its transition from Channel 4 to ITV2. Willoughby hosted the show for its final series. In the same year, Willoughby co-presented Holly & Fearne Go Dating with Fearne Cotton. The show saw the two hosts attempt to find dates for single people that they meet around the UK. Since 2008, Willoughby has appeared as a team captain on Celebrity Juice, presenting series 1-11 and 13 (taking a break in series 12 due to maternity leave)^[12] hosted by Keith Lemon and stars fellow team captain Fearne Cotton.^[13]

Willoughby (left) with This Morning co-hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford.

2009–present

Willoughby has co-presented ITV's This Morning with Phillip Schofield since September 2009 replacing Fern Britton.^[14] Willoughby and Schofield present the programme from Monday to Thursday mornings with Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes co-hosting on Fridays.

In 2011, Willoughby co-presented charity telethon Text Santa with Ant & Dec. She returned to co-host the show with Phillip Schofield in 2012, 2013 and 2015.^[15]

On 24 March 2012, Willoughby began presenting The Voice UK with Reggie Yates. She decided to leave the show after the second series and was replaced by Emma Willis in 2014.^[16]

In 2012, Willoughby began hosting a revived version of Surprise Surprise. A second series began airing on 15 September 2013, a third on 22 October 2014 and a fourth on 21 June 2015.

Since 2015, Willoughby has presented sports-based panel show Play to the Whistle on ITV. The first series aired for seven episodes beginning on 11 April 2015. A second series aired for six episodes, beginning in April 2016.^[17]

In 2016, Willoughby presented primetime Saturday night dating show Meet the Parents for ITV. The show has been compared to Blind Date.^[18] In October 2016, Willoughby admitted to taking part in a special Halloween episode of Celebrity Juice dressed as Harley Quinn while intoxicated.^[19]

Awards

In 2006, Willoughby won a BAFTA in recognition of her abilities as a children's TV presenter.^[20]

She has also appeared in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women poll every year since 2005, ranking at No. 51 in 2010, No. 74 in 2009 and No. 100 in 2008.^[21]

On 30 March 2012, on National Cleavage Day, Willoughby was awarded the title "Best Celebrity Cleavage",^[22][23] based on a poll of 1000 women who chose her as the first celebrity to get into the Wonderbra Cleavage Hall of Fame.^[24]

Personal life

Willoughby is dyslexic.^[25] Her sister, Kelly, also works in the television industry.^[26]

On 4 August 2007, Willoughby married Dan Baldwin, a producer on Ministry of Mayhem. Their first child Harry James Baldwin was born on 11 May 2009^[27] their second child Belle Baldwin on 14 April 2011.^[28] On 14 March 2014, Willoughby announced via her official website that the couple were expecting their third child.^[29] Chester William Baldwin was born on 29 September 2014.^[30]

In 2008, Willoughby became a patron of the charity Together for Short Lives.^[31]

Filmography

Television

Film

Guest appearances

• Never Mind the Buzzcocks (31 October 2005, 5 December 2011) – Panel member
• Showbiz Darts (5, 11, 13 October 2006) – Celebrity contestant
• Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway (29 September 2007, 2014) – Celebrity contestant
• All Star Family Fortunes (3 November 2007) – Contestant
• All Star Mr & Mrs (2 January 2010) – Contestant, with husband Dan Baldwin
• James Corden's World Cup Live (25 June 2010) – Guest
• Magic Numbers (17 July 2010) – Guest
• Agatha Christie's Marple (30 August 2010) – Goody Carne
• The Alan Titchmarsh Show (15 October 2010, 21 March 2012) – Guest
• Chris Moyles' Quiz Night (29 November 2010) – Guest
• The Jonathan Ross Show (18 February 2012) – Guest
• Britain Unzipped (24 April 2012) – Guest
• Rod Stewart's Christmas (9 December 2012) – Guest
• Sweat the Small Stuff (30 April 2013) – Panel member
• Keith Lemon's Through the Keyhole (14 September 2013) – Panel member
• 8 Out of 10 Cats (29 December 2013) – Panel member
• Dancing on Ice (9 March 2014) – Guest
• The One Show (27 March 2014) – Guest
• The Michael McIntyre Chat Show (7 April 2014) – Guest
• Duck Quacks Don't Echo (8 September 2014) – Panelist
• Alan Carr: Chatty Man (4 December 2015) – Guest

Bibliography

• The Best Friends' Guide to Life (with Fearne Cotton, Vermilion, 2010) ISBN 9780091935405
• Truly Happy Baby (June 2016)

School for Stars series

All books written with Kelly Willoughby

• L 'Etoile, School for Stars: First Term (2013) ISBN 9781444008111
• Second Term at L 'Etoile (2013) ISBN 9781444008135
• Third Term at L 'Etoile (2014) ISBN 9781444008159
• Summer Holiday Mystery (2014) ISBN 9781444008173
• Double Trouble at L 'Etoile (2015) ISBN 9781444014556
• The Missing Ballerina Mystery (2015) ISBN 9781444014570

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Holly Willoughby.

• Official website