By Katie Hind Consultant Editor Showbusiness
20:00 06 Jan 2024, updated 20:54 06 Jan 2024
It’s the dazzling smile her army of fans have been missing for months.
Dressed in a stunning £3,200 floor-length red Vivienne Westwood gown, Holly Willoughby beams as she poses alongside her new TV sidekick Stephen Mulhern as she prepares for her comeback on Dancing On Ice next Sunday.
And the return marks the first time Holly, 42, has posed for a photoshoot since a terrifying alleged plot to kidnap and murder her emerged.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal she met Mulhern, 46, two weeks ago for the pictures to be taken – just days after she made her first public outing since early October when a former Essex security guard was charged with contacting a hitman in the US to kidnap and murder her.
It is understood that she and Mulhern did not meet the show’s judges, including Olympic gold medallists Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, but instead had their own private shoot at a studio in London.
Holly previously hosted the hit ITV show with her former friend and This Morning co-star Phillip Schofield.
For Holly, it was normality returning to her life as she was joined by her stylist Danielle Whiteman, who carefully selected the £3,200 Vivienne Westwood gown.
One friend said: ‘It was quite an emotional day, it felt like the beginnings of a routine after months of being at home and shutting herself off from the outside world.
‘But Holly has always loved wearing dreamy, princess-style gowns on Dancing On Ice, it was always her time to get really dressed up.’
It was a doubly special reunion with Mulhern, ITV’s popular and long-serving star who hosts the reboot of Deal Or No Deal and Catchphrase, because he was at her side when she got her first big break in TV almost 20 years ago.
The pair hosted ITV morning children’s shows Ministry Of Mayhem and Holly & Stephen’s Saturday Showdown when they were in their 20s and since then have had an unbreakable bond.
‘It really made a difference to Holly’s mindset to know that Stephen would be with her all of the way. It has really made her smile,’ added the friend.
‘When you have that much history with someone you feel safe. The last year has been a huge change for her.
‘For years and years, Phil was with her and suddenly he was gone. To be working with Stephen again at such a poignant time in her career is special for Holly. Whether she went back to Dancing On Ice was a quandary for Holly, some gentle persuasion from Stephen definitely helped to seal the deal.’
Next Sunday at 6.30pm she will co-host the programme, whose stars include Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards and former Brookside actress Claire Sweeney, from ITV’s studio at the old RAF base in Bovingdon, Hertfordshire.
It is a moment she has been mentally preparing herself for since making up her mind to return to the limelight over the Christmas period.
Friends of the mother-of-three say that she will not be addressing her alleged kidnap plot ordeal but is using the return of Dancing On Ice as an opportunity to move on with her life and try to forget the last three months of devastation – at least until the accused man’s trial in June.
‘It is unlikely she will acknowledge her time off at all. It will be a matter of it’s business as usual,’ says a source close to Holly.
Security at the studios has been so tight for many years, there is little more that ITV can do to improve it. So network chiefs are satisfied that it is ‘super safe’ for the star.
She and Schofield, 61, hosted Dancing On Ice together from 2018 when the show was revived after a four-year hiatus. However, the pair had also anchored it from its launch in 2006 until 2012, when Christine Lampard briefly replaced Holly until 2014.
It was how Schofield and Holly got to know one another and ITV sources say that if it wasn’t for Dancing On Ice, she may not have got her break at co-presenting This Morning.
She replaced Fern Britton to co-host This Morning with Schofield from 2009 until May last year, when he quit after admitting lying about an affair with a younger male colleague.
Holly finally announced her departure from This Morning in October, days after reports of the alleged kidnap plot emerged.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
