Holly Willoughby says 'there was a time she wasn't sure if she would ever return to the spotlight' following horrific kidnap and rape plot - ahead of new This Morning-style YouTube show

By LILY JOBSON, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER Published: 22:42, 20 July 2026 | Updated: 23:37, 20 July 2026 Holly Willoughby has admitted there was a 'time she wasn't sure if she would ever return to the spotlight' following the horrific kidnap, rape and murder plot.  The former This Morning star, 45, is reclaiming her fame with an exciting new YouTube show called Together. The new project, which she is self-funding, will involve both producing and presenting her own show, as well as celebrity interviews. Despite her exciting new venture, Holly has said she thought her career in the public eye was over for good at one point after a difficult few years. 'If I'm being really honest, everybody knows what happened to me and I just needed time out', Holly candidly admitted. 'I needed to go, "Do you know, I need to park all of that. I'm just going to spend time with my family and my friends and see how I am and see what happens. And then when it feels right I'll go back". But there was a time when I wasn't sure whether that would ever be a thing.' Holly Willoughby has admitted there was a 'time she wasn't sure if she would ever return to the spotlight' following the horrific kidnap, rape and murder plot The former This Morning star, 45, is reclaiming her fame with an exciting new YouTube show called Together Holly added to The Sun: 'I feel good now, though. I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t. This is a really good sign that I feel ready.' The Mail on Sunday first revealed in January that Holly, who has worked in television for almost 25 years and was reportedly paid £730,000 a year at ITV, was working on a new digital project. Holly Willoughby Together will launch on July 28 as a twice-weekly broadcast under five sections: Talk Together, Cook Together, Look Good Together, Better Together, and Hang Out Together. She is working with a team at her husband Dan Baldwin's television production company Hungry Bear, which is behind shows such as Gladiators and Michael McIntyre's Big Show, both screened on BBC One. 'Holly has done television for 25 years, and now she wants to make her own thing,' a friend of the star told The Mail on Sunday in January. 'And now daytime television is very much on the slide and it's time for something new. She is excited, it is something so new and innovative, hopefully it will work. 'The television landscape has changed so much, people are consuming content on TikTok and other digital platforms. 'Holly has seen an opportunity now to start something new, which has a future, unlike the kind of stuff she has done in the past.' When Holly left This Morning after learning of an extraordinary plot to kidnap, rape, and murder her, she found herself with much more time on her hands. For 14 years, she'd been up at the crack of dawn to sit on the sofa and present the show next to her former co-star and friend, Phillip Schofield. Holly had been ITV's busiest star, and bosses at the network wanted her on screen as much as possible. But Holly had been left badly shaken by the kidnap threat, for which former security guard Gavin Plumb was handed a life sentence in 2024. Despite her exciting new venture, Holly has said she thought her career in the public eye was over for good at one point after a difficult few years When Holly left This Morning after learning of a plot to kidnap, rape, and murder her, she found herself with much more time on her hands (pictured with Phillip Schofield in 2022)  While she began to dip her toe back into live television, hosting two more series of Dancing On Ice and Netflix's big-budget reality series, Celebrity Bear Hunt, Holly believes her future lies away from terrestrial broadcasting. The source explained: 'While she still has a good relationship with ITV, she has walked away from shows there and she has no intention right now to go back. 'She was offered the chance to host You Bet but she declined and there have been other opportunities too: She could have taken them and carried on where she left off when she had that awful time with Gavin Plumb. 'But Holly has an idea and she knows if she doesn't do it now, she will never know if it will work. Of course it is a risk, but she wanted a change. Not only will she be in front of a camera but she will be in charge behind it, too, and that is very exciting.' But the friend added: 'Of course there is a lot of misogyny towards Holly, there will always be those people who say she hasn't got a job at the moment or that she's finished - but they are just bitter, and are usually men.'