Dermot O’Leary has left a tribute to his This Morning co-star, Holy Willoughby, describing her as his ‘lovely mate’.
The presenter, 50, is currently taking over hosting duties on the ITV show as bosses search for a replacement for Holly’s former co-host, Phillip Schofield.
Taking to Instagram, Dermot uploaded a sweet snap of himself with Holly, penning a nice tribute to the star in the caption.
He wrote: “Back on This Morning for another week with my lovely mate Holly.”
In the picture, Dermot could be seen beaming up at the camera wearing a dark polo shirt, his arm around Holly, who wore a multi-coloured spotty dress with frilled sleeves.
While fans were happy to see Dermot on the show, some were not as pleased that Holly was still fronting the series.
One wrote: “Time for Holly to go. Has shown her true colours. Hopefully Dermot is permanent.”
Another typed: “Hopefully they keep you on the show Dermy, but Holly needs to go, her time is up.”
A third commented: “Don’t let @hollywilloughby drag your reputation down. You are so good and it should be you and Alison hosting if it stays on air (which is debatable).”
A fourth chimed: “I by far prefer you and Alison together. Natural and funny.”
Dermot and Holly have enjoyed a long-term working relationship, both working on This Morning together on and off over the years, alongside other ITV shows.
The programme's Instagram account shared a picture of Holly and Dermot on This Morning a decade ago, in 2013, alongside a recent one.
The images were captioned: "It’s been almost 10 years since they first presented #ThisMorning together, but @hollywilloughby and @dermotoleary have barely aged a day!"
Sophie Liard, known as The Folding Lady joked: “Can we have a skincare with Dermot segment please”, while another user commented: “Dermot doesn’t look any different”, and a third wrote: “I still can’t believe he is 50!!”.
