Holly Willoughby talks about tough year after kidnapping plot got uncovered

TV presenter Holly Willoughby had a tough year after a plot to kidnap, rape and kill her was uncovered.

Holly left This Morning in October 2023 after facing threats.

Now, the TV presenter has returned for Netflix’s Celebrity Bear Hunt (alongside explorer Bear Grylls).

Discussing the tough year, she told The Times of London: “There’s no way of sugar-coating it.”

Describing her year of stepping back from public life, Willoughby said: “I wouldn’t wish what happened to me on anybody at all — sometimes things go wrong, but you have to keep going for it because that’s all you can do.”

She reflected: “You have to hold on to, ultimately, [how] all this serves its purpose. A lot of the change has been really good, you know? I’ve spent a long time not being able to take my kids to school and… there have been so many assemblies I haven’t been able to go to, so many things I’ve missed.”

While keeping a positive outlook regarding the threats, she also noted that her salary from Netflix was a big factor in inspiring her return to the screen.

She said: “I’m not saying, how much are they going to pay me for this, and how much are they going to pay me for that? But by definition my work is a business. I’m not going to shy away from saying that. I think, sometimes, when women earn money people see it as a greedy, ambitious thing, but when men earn money? ‘Oh, he’s incredible, I want to be like him!’ I don’t have any shame in saying it’s my business, it’s my work.”

“It’s also all I have known. It’s what I do,” remarked Holly Willoughby.