As offices go, it's hardly known for a library-like atmosphere. But at just after 5pm on Tuesday, the buzzy production suite at This Morning's headquarters fell utterly silent.The daytime TV star had opted for a brutally public social media farewell, rather than a more traditional letter on the wall or a round robin internal email — and the show's loyal and hardworking staff were lost for words.
The silence in the production office was rapidly followed by tears — which were not necessarily caused, say insiders, by the thought of losing Holly.No, their tears were brought on by yet more drama and trauma behind the scenes. Many of the staff and crew have worked on This Morning for more than a decade and here was yet another crisis which would leave them picking up the pieces.'It has been one thing after another,' one told me.
Staff have also endured the pressure of being quizzed by external lawyer Jane Mulcahy KC about the alleged toxic working culture on the programme.Ms Willoughby makes her debut as a presenter with Phillip Schofield on This Morning in 2009 Former GMTV editor Frizell had received an unexpected phone call shortly before 5pm on Tuesday in which he was told his greatest asset was quitting. He also learned she had prepared an emotional statement in which she was about to reveal she was leaving the show for the sake of herself and her family following the much-publicised alleged kidnap plot.
Frizell — usually unflappable according to his colleagues — was stunned. He had been assured Holly would be staying with This Morning for the foreseeable future. Indeed, she'd only just signed a new contract, which saw her annual pay increase from £700,000 to around £1 million. As is perhaps predictable, briefing wars have begun, as all parties await the outcome of the external inquiry into Schofield's conduct. It has been put back two months to ensure a full and proper probe.
While contracts weren't signed, it was otherwise a done deal and This Morning insiders say, for the first time in a significant period, there was genuine excitement in the air that they had found television's next great presenting duo. Although executives at ITV have had a sackful of applications from presenters desperate to land themselves Holly's seat on the sofa — along with the fame and lucrative brand deals that potentially accompany it — they know they have to get it right. Otherwise, this televisual cat's nine lives, surely, are about to run out.