Rochelle Humes and Craig Doyle opened today’s This Morning with a tribute to Willoughby, after she announced she was leaving the show.
Following Holly Willoughby’s announcement that she has departed This Morning, today’s episode of the ITV daytime show started with a tribute to the presenter’s 14 years with the programme.
Following a special version of the opening credits, which noted that this was the “end of an era” and that “family comes first”, before saying “goodbye Holly”, Rochelle Humes and Craig Doyle introduced the episode.
In a tribute to Willoughby, Humes said: “Of course, we want to start by sending our love, best wishes and respect to our Holly.”
Doyle then said: “Last night, Holly made what we know will have been a heartbreaking decision to leave This Morning after 14 years.”
Humes added: “Holly loved her job here and was really looking forward to the future of the show, but recent events, especially in the past week, have been hard to deal with, and she is quite rightly putting her family first.”
‘She will forever be one of us.’
— This Morning (@thismorning) October 11, 2023
It’s the end of an era but we want to thank Holly for the last 14 years on This Morning. #ThisMorning pic.twitter.com/WPnCrY1U0i
Doyle continued: “On behalf of everyone here in front and behind the camera, we just loved working with Holly and she made coming to work so much fun. We’re all really, really sad, and we’re really going to miss her.”
Humes finished off by saying: “Holly says she’s incredibly proud of what she’s achieved on the show and so are we. She will forever be one of us,” while Craig added: “But, as Holly Willoughby knows only too well, the show must go on.”
Willoughby announced her departure from the show on Tuesday 10th October, saying that she felt she had to “make this decision for me and my family”.
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This came after the news that a man has been charged with soliciting to commit murder over an alleged plot to kidnap her, following which she had been absent from the show for the past week.
Humes and Doyle’s tribute wasn’t the only one paid to Willoughby on today’s This Morning. Vanessa Feltz and Tom Swarbrick also paid tribute, with Feltz saying that Willoughby is “through and through a golden hearted, sweet, funny, extremely bright” person.
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.
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