Keith Lemon has opened up about Holly Willoughby's decision to leave Celebrity Juice after she announced her departure on Sunday. Chatting to Mark Wright during an Instagram workout session, Keith explained: "She told me last week, so I knew when we were doing the lockdown Juices. But I didn't want to bring down the joy. Gotta keep it joyful, I guess."
Holly announced she was leaving the show on Sunday
He added that he hadn't even started to consider who might replace her on the series, and continued: "[There's] no-one yet. I was quite humoured by news of the bookies saying who is up for it. No-one is yet. I've not had any meetings about it yet."
Mark's wife, Our Girl star Michelle Keegan, was rumoured to be taking over as the team captain, but the actress shut down the reports during an interview on The One Show. She said: "I can officially say that's not true. Don't get me wrong, I'm a massive fan of the show. I love the show, I find it hilarious. But, at the minute, no, no, that's not true."
Holly has been on the show for 12 years
READ: Celebrity Juice: see these stars when the show first began and now
Speaking about her decision to step down, Holly posted a collage of photos from the show on Instagram and captioned: "Thank you @celebjuiceofficial for 12 years of fantastic chaos... I can’t quite believe what we’ve done and how quick that time has gone. Thank you to you all for watching..we’ve always had the loudest and best audiences. Also a huge thank you to @itv2 for believing in the show in the first place and for all of your support...Over the years the production team has changed, however to anyone lucky enough to have worked on the show, they will know that we really do have the best time, it’s never felt like work and always been to me like a night out."
READ: Fearne Cotton speaks out as Holly Willoughby leaves Celebrity Juice