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Holly Willoughby returned to her role as ITV’s Queen Bee on the This Morning sofa on Monday after her eight-week summer break to present alongside Alison Hammond.
The TV presenter, 42, has taken her annual summer break, during which a slew of stand-ins have headlined the show.
However, many viewers at home were dissatisfied with her comeback and expressed their preference for other presenters such as Rochelle Humes and Josie Gibson, with some even saying that Alison should present on her own.
One called her departure from the show ‘refreshing’, while others said it had given ITV bosses the perfect chance for a ‘fresh start’.
And as the National Television Awards came up Tuesday night, some fans commented that they hoped the show wouldn’t win in light of their scandal-filled year.
She is back! Holly Willoughby returned to the This Morning bank on Monday after her eight week summer break to present with Alison Hammond
One fan tweeted: “I really liked how Andy and Rochelle presented #ThisMorning I really brought a new, fun feel to the show and I loved that they got the crew involved. Too bad I didn’t see them on my TV this morning.’
Another asked, “Why can’t Josie and Craig present full-time?” while a third demanded, “Turn Rochelle back on.”
A fourth made his feelings clear, as they wrote: “#this morning hoped this day wouldn’t come. Don’t believe they missed the opportunity for a fresh start.’
A fifth repeated, “Is any TV show more hated than this?” Summer is so refreshing without holly.’
While a sixth said ‘Make Alison Hammond host and start Holly Willoughby’.
A seventh boomed, “Is Holly announcing she’s leaving??? No?? Oh that’s a pity.’
And an eighth stated: ‘NTA is tomorrow – I’ll like it so much if #this morning not win’.
But others came to Holly’s defense and praised her return, with one person writing: “I love these 2!!! Can finally enjoy this #this morning again. Jealous trolls just stop.”
And another agreed, tweeting: “Welcome back @hollywills #this morning’.
It wasn’t a good year for This Morning after the Philip Schofield scandal earlier in May threw the program into turmoil.
Bosses reportedly fear the scandal will negatively impact their chance of winning Best Daytime Show at the NTAs this week for the 13th straight year.
The morning TV show takes on ITV sister program Loose Women, quiz favorite The Chase and BBC’s The Repair Shop for the prestigious award.
After 21 years of presenting the show, Philip resigned from This Morning in May before admitting that he had been dating a much younger man who worked with him on the show, and later lied about it.
In a bombshell statement to the Daily Mail, the veteran TV presenter admitted that he and the man began a relationship that was more than just a friendship. The ex-TV presenter describes this as ‘unwise but not illegal’.
Schofield further confessed to lying to his employer ITV, his colleagues, his friends and his agents at the management firm YMU.
The scandal left the show in a state of disarray, leading to ongoing accusations of a toxic culture behind the scenes of the show.
The claims come after it was revealed that Holly is finally the undisputed queen of ITV after the show unveiled their new trailer.
After the summer holidays, the new clip shows Holly smiling for the cameras as she gets ready to head to the famous This Morning couch.
The choice to feature the presenter on her own sends a clear message that she is ‘Queen Bee’, ITV insiders say.
One told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Holly is the future and ITV wanted to make that clear. It is a clear sign that she is at the helm and that the other presenters will join her.
It’s a brand new start for This Morning, the scandal could have wrecked it, but it managed to keep going. There’s a lot of excitement.’
Holly appears twice in the trailer, which also advertises Good Morning Britain, Lorraine and Loose Women.
Her solo appearance in the trailer is a stark contrast to promotional material from previous years, which featured her alongside Schofield as the joint stars of This Morning.