Holly Willoughby looked worlds away from her usual red carpet glamour as she was spotted out and about in London on Wednesday, following the resignation of her business partner from her companies.
The presenter, 44, braved the rainy weather in a chic hooded mac coat, teamed with a sweatshirt and black leggings.
She completed the casual look with black-and-white ankle socks and chunky trainers as she strolled down the street, phone in hand.
Holly toted her essentials in a stylish Mulberry bag and accessorised with trendy black sunglᴀsses, seemingly in an effort to go incognito.
She kept her blonde locks tucked beneath her hood to shield them from the rain and appeared to go makeup-free for the outing.
Holly’s relaxed appearance came after her business partner, Vicky Staines, ceased her role at Wylde Moon, of which she was described as finance director.
Holly Willoughby, 44, looked worlds away from her usual glamour as she headed out in London on Wednesday following the resignation of her business partner from her companies
The presenter braved the rainy weather in a chic hooded mac coat, teamed with a sweatshirt and black leggings
Vicky has also departed from Roxy Management – ‘resigned’ as a director, according to documents filed at Companies House – of which she and Holly had been the sole board members since it was established in 2020.
Vicky declined to respond to Richard Eden’s request for comment.
The consequent sense of mystery is fuelled by Holly’s representatives who also feel unable to issue a statement about Vicky, who has certainly been a cherished member of Holly’s inner circle.
A snap posted by Holly’s sister Kelly – who playfully styles herself ‘Lady Willoughby’ on her social media account – shows Vicky standing snugly between Holly and Kelly.
‘When we come together we really can make dreams come true,’ Kelly captioned the image, before adding a couple of emojis and the pay-off: ‘Love you beyond.’
Holly, of course, is fully aware of the capriciousness of fortune.
Scouted by a modelling agency when just 14, she secured her first TV role by the time she was 19, with a stint as a lingerie model for Pretty Polly in between.
She subsequently met Dan Baldwin, the man who would become her husband, while presenting children’s programme Ministry of Mayhem, which Dan produced.
She completed the casual look with black-and-white ankle socks and chunky trainers as she strolled down the street, phone in hand
Holly toted her essentials in a stylish Mulberry bag and accessorised with trendy black sunglᴀsses, seemingly in an effort to go incognito
Last week, a High Court ruling gave the couple until July 9 to pay £377,000 in taxes owed by another of their companies, Roxy Media, of which they are the only two directors.
This follows Richard Eden’s disclosure in January that HMRC had issued a winding up peтιтion against Roxy Media, which, according to previous accounts, owed more than £300,000 in unpaid corporation tax.
At the time a financial expert told Daily Mail that the looming legal battle might well have been caused by differing interpretations of Holly’s tax status.
‘It’s possible that her Good Morning salary was paid into the company as freelance income,’ explained the expert, ‘whereas the tax office may consider that she was employed by ITV and that the income should have been taxed on a PAYE basis.’
The news came after she put on a leggy display in a throwback Instagram snap from her time on Celebrity Bear Hunt.
The TV favourite looked incredible in a colourful co-ord in a picture taken during a break from filming the hit Netflix show.
The outfit, which is from Zimmerman and worth £720, boasted a turquoise and white floral pattern and featured a ʙuттoned long-sleeve blouse, mini shorts and a tan belt.
The star completed the look with some brown walking boots from her collaboration with Grenson and let her shoulder-length blonde tresses loose for the shoot.
She kept her blonde locks tucked beneath her hood to shield them from the rain and appeared to go makeup-free for the outing
She captioned the post, ‘The one that got away… Celebrity Bear Hunt @zimmermann @grensonshoes @netflixuk #ad’, adding a palm tree emoji to reflect the Costa Rican rainforest location where they filmed the contest.
Sources have been claiming that Holly is set to line up several lucrative deals from streamers, including a second series of Netflix’s Celebrity Bear Hunt, off the back of the show’s success.
The programme saw a host of celebs, including Mel B, Lottie Moss and Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen, attempt to escape adventurer Bear Grylls and take part in a series of wild challenges in a bid to be crowned champion.
The stunning snap comes after Kim Woodburn launched another blistering attack on Holly, branding her ‘useless’.
The former celebrity cleaner, 83, has reignited her long-standing feud with the presenter in light of Dancing On Ice being axed after 19 years.
Kim famously clashed with Holly and Phillip Schofield when she appeared on This Morning over her experience on Celebrity Big Brother.
She told Express Online earlier this month that Holly’s success on ITV shows This Morning and Dancing On Ice were largely due to her co-host Phil.
Phillip left ITV in 2023 following the revelation of his ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a much younger male colleague.
Holly’s relaxed appearance came after she put on a leggy display in a throwback Instagram snap from her time on Celebrity Bear Hun
Kim quipped: ‘I’m going to say something to you, and I won’t change my mind. When a presenter gets a job, you always hope they will choose the right person for that job, and unfortunately, in my opinion, Holly Willoughby is useless.
‘For 14 years, Holly was on This Morning with Phil, and you tell me, any time that you can recall that she ever said to Phil on that show, “I’m sorry, Phil, I don’t agree with you!” Not once! She got a career on Phil. That is how she got her career and her money.
‘She was then on that Dancing On Ice, and she’s useless! Once again, standing hands together in front of her, saying, “Oh yes”. She doesn’t do anything! I mean, I had my problems with Phil, but let’s face it, he was extremely entertaining. But she got a job with Phil and turned on him, and her career.’
It came after the presenter snubbed long-time co-host Phillip as she broke her silence on the Dancing On Ice saga.
Taking to Instagram, Holly shared a gushing tribute for the skating show and thanked all who worked on it in the past 19 years – however, she notably failed to mention Phil, with whom she hosted the show for 13 years.
The stunning snap comes after Kim Woodburn (pictured, in 2017) launched another blistering attack on Holly, branding her ‘useless’
Kim famously clashed with Holly and Phillip Schofield (pictured, in 2022) when she appeared on This Morning over her experience on Celebrity Big Brother
Read More Holly Willoughby puts on a leggy display in colourful co-ord as she posts throwback snap from her time on Celebrity Bear Hunt
Alongside a plethora of snaps from her time hosting the ITV programme, Holly penned: ‘A huge thank you to @itv, The brilliant team, Crew, Celebrities and Everyone who has been part of our Dancing on Ice family over the last 19 years.
‘Every year, just when January felt at its greyest, Dancing on Ice arrived like a burst of glittering, dazzling light, warm, joyful, and full of heart…
‘It has been an absolute privilege to work alongside true national treasures Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, and to have a front-row seat to their breathtaking skating. Watching them glide across the ice was nothing less than pure magic…
‘A special thanks must also go to Arnica, Deep Heat, Spanx and fake tan, unsung heroes of the rink! … I will miss it hugely, but I count myself so lucky to have had it for as long as we did. Finally and most importantly, thank you to you for watching, you’re the BEST! …’
While Holly featured a selection of pH๏τos which included her current co-star Stephen, as well as judges Torvill and Dean, Oti Mabuse and Ashley Banjo, there were no images of Phillip.