TEARING UP
Holly Willoughby’s heartfelt message to This Morning viewers as she makes emotional statement on Phillip Schofield
HOLLY Willoughby has shared a heartfelt message with This Morning viewers as she finally returned to the famous sofa following Phillip Schofield's shock departure.
The long-time ITV presenter, 42, looked stunning in a white linen summer dress, wearing her trademark hair down in soft waves with perfectly applied make-up.
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This is Holly's first day back after a two-week break with her family during which it was revealed her former co-star Phillip Schofield, 61, had been in a relationship with a much younger colleague.
The fallout of the affair resulted in Phil stepping down from his contract at ITV completely and publicly apologising for his actions.
Huge speculation has surrounded Holly's return to the show and it was clear the nerves were there during her return speech.
Sitting next to presenter Josie Gibson, 38, the mum-of-three stoically faced the cameras and appeared to be suppressing tears.
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Fighting back tears, she said: "From my heart thank you for all of the kind messages. Thank you for being here this morning.
"Myself, Josie, Alison, Dermot and Craig and every single person who works on this show will continue to work hard every single day to bring you the show we love."
Holly began her statement by asking viewers how they were after the rollercoaster few weeks.
Addressing This Morning viewers, Holly said: "Right, deep breath.
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"Firstly, are you OK? I hope so. It feels very strange indeed not being here with Phillip.
"I imagine you might have been feeling a lot like I have. Shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the well-being of people from all sides of what's been going on and full of questions.
"You me and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth, who they themselves felt they had to resign from ITV and step down from a career that they loved.
"That's a lot to process and it's equally hard to see the toll it's taken on their own mental health.
"I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal and the health and well-being for everyone.
"I hope as we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, then we can find strength in each other."
Following Holly's statement, the show returned to normal with Queen singer Adam Lambert scheduled to be interviewed later to celebrate Pride month and the LGBT community.
Phone-ins involving the public will be heavily vetted by production staff to filter out any attempted viewer outbursts over the scandal.
And interaction segments where viewers send in pictures and social media posts are being paused to avoid the risk of any abuse being targeted at the presenters.
Later in the week, Holly will be joined by Irish presenter Craig Doyle, while Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary will be back for their usual slot on Friday.
Last week Phillip spoke exclusively to The Sun about the situation, insisting he did not groom his younger colleague.
Visibly shaking, he said: “I did not, I did not (groom him).
“There are accusations of all sorts of things. It never came across that way (an abuse of power) because we’d become mates. I don’t know about that.
“But of course I understand that there will be a massive judgment, but bearing in mind, I have never exercised that anywhere else.
“I assume somebody, somewhere, assumed something was going on, correctly, and didn’t say anything."
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The star continued: “At the time I did not think about it possibly ruining my career. I really probably only thought about it when I saw the rumour mill, and saw it growing.
“Then I saw the link with the drama school photo all those years before, and thought, ‘This looks shocking’.
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