Firstly, are you OK? We’re not, because Holly Willoughby has made a very cheeky comment about Romesh Ranganathan, and it’s taking some processing.
The former This Morning presenter, 45, confirmed her comeback to screens today as she gears up to launch her new YouTube channel, Holly Willoughby Together.
It marks the broadcaster’s first big gig since leaving daytime in 2023, having fronted her ITV programme for 14 years. Dancing On Ice, which she co-hosted, was also axed not long after.
So, it’s safe to say this is a milestone in Holly’s career… and she’s starting off strong by declaring she would ‘s**g’ comedian Romesh, 48.
The statement is incredibly jarring when made in the context of her wholesome new web show, which is accompanied by cosy, homely imagery to promote her series covering health, beauty, fashion, and lifestyle.
Then again, Holly is no stranger to a viral moment and had plenty of them alongside Phillip Schofield during their tenure, from interview blunders to arriving at work hungover after the NTAs.
For the first episode of Together, Holly is joined by Canadian comic Katherine Ryan, who herself loves a controversial quip or innuendo-laced jibe.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Katherine encourages Holly to play a game of S**g, Marry, Avoid in the July 28 premiere, making her choose between Rob Beckett, Josh Widdicombe, and Romesh.
After making her choice, Holly is teased by pal Katherine, who tells her: ”I’m just sending Romesh the video of you saying you want to s**g him!’
We can’t imagine that’s the atmosphere Holly is hoping to create with her new project, but it certainly seems like she’s got her spark back.
Speaking ahead of Together’s launch, she said she is ‘so excited’, despite it being ‘all new territory’ for her.
Holly told the Press Association: ‘It’s just a shift. It’s been 14 years – you get so used to how things work.’
Still, she believes TV and YouTube aren’t too different.
‘But then in other ways, you finish an item, and everybody comes in and grabs thumbnails, and I’m like, “Oh, what are you talking about?”
‘It felt like a load of us were kind of learning the same thing.
‘Half the team were digital, half the team worked classic entertainment. It was interesting because everybody was blending their ways of working.’
The mum-of-three felt inspired to make the jump to YouTube by her own kids. She has two sons and a daughter with her husband, Dan Baldwin, whom she married in 2007.
Still, she’s not ruling out a return to the nation’s living rooms in the future.
‘I love telly. Telly is in my blood. I love it, and hopefully I’ll go back and do other TV shows and things like that when the time feels right,’ she said of when she’d be ready.
‘It’s just that there’s opportunity and options, and it just felt like, “Let’s see where this goes.” And I think I needed a bit of a challenge.’
She went on to liken her return to ‘stepping into an old pair of slippers that [she] used to wear’.
And Holly isn’t feeling the pressure, either, despite her name being attached to some of the country’s most-watched shows in the past.
‘I’m really looking forward to hearing the feedback because that’s the good thing about YouTube,’ she admitted, encouraging reviews.
‘If people don’t like anything, we can change it.’
As well as lifestyle and wellness content, the YouTube show will host a range of ‘inspiring’ guests for in-depth conversations, one of the early interviewees being a grieving mother whose son took his own life, while others will include a tech safety campaigner, chefs, a florist, and a makeup artist.
Who knows, maybe one of them could even be Romesh…
Releasing two episodes per week, Together marks a new era for Holly, who has spent the past two years mainly focusing on her company, called Wylde Moon.
She dipped out of the limelight after former security guard Gavin Plumb’s terrifying plot to kidnap, rape, and murder her came to light, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years.
Holly is also now flying solo after many years of bouncing off her co-stars, such as Phillip, who quit This Morning in 2023 after admitting to lying about an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a much younger male colleague.
Holly continued to present Dancing On Ice with Stephen Mulhern until it was announced last March that the show would be ‘rested’, with no further plans for another series.
Also last year, Holly presented the Netflix reality competition series Celebrity Bear Hunt, co-starring Bear Grylls.
Reps for Romesh Ranganathan have been contacted for comment.
Holly Willoughby Together will premiere on July 28.