Susanna Reid on Holly Willoughby quitting This Morning: ‘Who can blame her?’
Willoughby quit the ITV show earlier this year after an alleged plot to kidnap her
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Your support makes all the difference.Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid has spoken out about Holly Willoughby’s decision to quit This Morning in October.
Willoughby sensationally left the ITV show after 14 years following an alleged plot to kidnap her.
Her departure came just five months after her co-host Phillip Schofield – who had presented the show for 21 years – quit the programme when details of an affair with a younger colleague came to light.
Reid, who has hosted ITV’s Good Morning Britain for a decade and weathered the equally dramatic departure of her co-host Piers Morgan in 2021, has spoken about her colleague Willoughy in a new interview.
Speaking to Woman & Home for its February issue, Reid, 53, said: “Holly [Willoughby] has made her decision, and who can blame her? It was a very challenging thing to have to handle and deal with.
“I used to see her very occasionally, as even though they’re in the studio next door, they’re on at a different time. Over the past year, the times I’ve seen her she’s been her typical, normal, smiling, bright, happy, strong self.”
She added: “She’s an exceptional, clever, funny, brilliant presenter.”
It was recently revealed that Willoughby is returning to screens on 14 January to host Dancing on Icealongside Stephen Mulhern.
The casting means Willoughby, 42, is set for an on-screen reunion with 46-year-old Mulhern, 20 years after the duo first presented ITV game show Ministry of Mayhem together.
Willoughby has been on a break from presenting duties since October after a man called Gavin Plumb was charged with a plot to kidnap and murder her. The security officer denies the charges.
Reid also spoke in the magazine interview about how she is enjoying ageing gracefully on TV.
“Women, especially in television, are completely embracing ageing gracefully, which means we’re not fighting it. We’re accepting it, welcoming it and enjoying it,” she said.
“All the women on Good Morning Britain are looking better and better than we did. We’ve got a brilliant styling team, but it is also an attitude thing. It’s like no one’s afraid of ageing, so you inhabit it, rather than resist it.
“I have literally no fear of getting older. I think every day is fabulous and now I’m in my fifties, I feel I’ve built up a thick skin while also being a very – hopefully – loving, sensitive person.”
She added: “People often talk about impostor syndrome, but when you’ve got to your fifties, you know what you’re doing, and that gives you more confidence.”