So far this week, Holly Willoughby has not appeared on TV. You may read that sentence, or have seen it for yourself when watching the ITV show, and shrug, ‘So…?’. She’s just having a break for Christmas, right? At least, that’s what we thought. You know, global pandemic and all, we’re bound to have other things on our mind.
But according to Google, that type of reaction is in the minority. Because This Morning is on its Christmas break led to Holly shooting to the top 20 of Google’s trending searches. More than 20,000 people jumped online after seeing her absence, with variations of ‘Why is This Morning not on today’ and ‘When is Holly Willoughby back?’ all breakout search terms.
Essentially, it seems her missing a few days of work for Christmas is a hot topic for discussion – especially when you take a look at Twitter. Take a quick scroll through This Morning’s hashtag and you’ll see countless tweets of people asking where Holly is and why the morning show isn't on their screens.
One user asked, 'Why is #ThisMorning not on please? How can I possibly work from home now?'
Another wrote, 'What’s happened to @thismorning I turned on my TV onto ITV and Supermarket Sweep was on,' followed by an angry face.
Like all of us, Holly Willoughby is entitled to a break at Christmas. The star and her co-presenter Phillip Schofield started their time off earlier this month, with Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford taking over last week. However the show is off-air this week until Christmas Day on Friday, when a pre-recorded show will air with Holly and Phil presenting.
Following the news that parts of the UK are now in Tier 4, Holly was one of the unlucky ones who has been separated from her loved ones for Christmas. Her sister Kelly revealed the sad news when she tweeted, 'So sad I can't be with my @hollywilloughby for the first time in 40 years. Thinking of everyone who can’t be with their favourite people this Christmas. It's beyond heartbreaking.
'Do something now to try and keep your head straight. I can't knit for toffee but giving it a bloody go....oh and have cracked open the Christmas booze...and on second tub of chocs.'
Fortunately for Holly, she will be able to enjoy her time off with her husband Dan Baldwin and their three children. That's if we allow it, of course.
While Holly is no doubt a national treasure, we all deserve some time to relax this Christmas - and she's no different.
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Missing her children’s first days at school were particularly tough, she said, before noting how lucky she feels to be able to greet her kids after school and be there on weekends. Holly currently has Friday, Saturday and Sunday off each week.
Of course, others are speculating she could have coronavirus, although we can’t imagine This Morning wouldn’t be upfront about that given she would be forced to isolate if she did. And since we’re not in the business of speculating on a woman’s womb, we’ll leave those pregnancy rumours alone.
Ultimately, why Holly wasn’t on This Morning is completely her own business. Whether she’s ill, spending time with kids or simply fancied another day off, the woman is allowed to take her leave whenever she wants. The obsession with where she is then, seems strange. Why are the public so desperate to follow her every move?
Perhaps it simply speaks to her intense likability on the show, it surely is a compliment that you can’t miss a day of work without 100,000 people googling where you are. Or are we just so sick of all the dreary, terrible news of 2020 that obsessing over Holly Willoughby's whereabouts is a much more interesting use of our time?
Either way, since we’ll find out what she’s been up to on Monday morning – there really is no reason for everyone to be SO fixated on her taking a day off.
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