This Morning stars Rochelle Humes and Craig Doyle have paid a lovely tribute to Holly Willoughby following her shocking exit from the beloved ITV show, while giving some more details on why she decided to leave the show.
Following the show’s opening, Rochelle and Craig discussed Holly, saying: “Of course we want to start by sending our love, best wishes and respect to our Holly. Last night Holly made what we know would have been a heartbreaking decision to leave This Morning after 14 years. Really, really sad, and we're really going to miss her." Rochelle added: "Holly said she's incredibly proud of what she's achieved on this show and so are we... 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's quite rightly putting her family first."
Holly released a statement confirming the news shortly after it was revealed that she was the target of a kidnap plot. Posting on Instagram, her message read: "I have let ITV know today that after 14 years, I will not be returning to This Morning. To everyone who has ever worked on the show over the years, thank you so so much. This is such a difficult goodbye, you are incredible and I forever will be proud of what we've done together."
"Thank you to everyone at ITV for being supportive. To every guest who has sat on our sofa, thank you. Most of all, thank you to the wonderful viewers. You've been so loyal, so supportive and the very best company every day. Richard and Judy said 'we only look after this show, it will always belong to the viewers'. It's been an honour to just be part of its story and I know this story has many chapters left to go. Sadly, however, I now feel I have to make this decision for me and my family. I will miss you all so much. Holly."
The star has been inundated with support, with Piers Morgan among those sharing his thoughts. Speaking on his show Uncensored, he said: “It's clearly shaken her so badly she's walked away from one of the top jobs in television," he said. "With the Jill Dando documentary on Netflix right now… I really feel for her. I've known Holly a long time. [It's] terrifying."
"[The] last line said it all to me. This is because she has got young kids, she's thinking, 'My God this is not worth it, I've got one of the best jobs in telly, so what. There is some lunatic out there'. I wish her all the best, she’s a great girl, Holly, I've known her a long time. Lot of fun with her over the years, what you see is what you get. She's just a good laugh, a very talented broadcaster."