Holly Willoughby’s former colleagues Craig Doyle and Rochelle Humes paid tribute to her after she announced her departure from This Morning after 14 years.
The 42-year-old announced on social media on Tuesday that she was stepping down from the mid-morning stalwart, saying “I have to make this decision for me and my family”.
It comes after a 36-year-old man was remanded in custody last week and charged over an alleged plot to kidnap her.
On Wednesday morning, the emotional opening credits included messages for Willoughby which said “we will miss you” and “goodbye Holly”.
Doyle and Humes then opened the ITV show by celebrating the star while visiuals of her with colleagues Josie Gibson and Alison Hammond were shown.
Humes began: “We want to start by sending our love, best wishes and respect to our Holly.”
“Last night Holly made, what we know would have been a heartbreaking decision to leave This Morning after 14 years,” Doyle followed.
Humes continued: “Holly loves her job here and was really looking forward to the future of the show but recent events, especially in the past week, have been hard to deal with as she is quite rightly putting her family first.”
“On behalf of everyone here, front and behind-the-camera, we just loved working with Holly and she made coming to work so much fun. We’re all really, really sad. We’re really going to miss her,” the Irish presenter added.
Humes said: “Holly said she’s incredibly proud of what she’s achieved on the show as so are we, she will forever be one of us.
“But as Holly Willoughby knows only too well the show must go on,” Doyle concluded.
Later in the episode, Vanessa Feltz’s was left close to tears as she spoke about Willoughby’s departure, hailing her as “loveable” and “golden-hearted”.
The show’s resident agony aunt also referred to the alleged plot to kidnap her, branding it “unthinkable” and said that it was “understandable” that she had stepped down as “family is everything” to her.
Feltz gushed: “People love her, because she’s lovable but I know people wonder, ‘what’s she really like? Can anyone be that pretty, that lovely, like a Disney princess to look at? Can anyone be that sweet really?’
“I’ve worked with her now and am very proud to call her a friend for 14 years... she is through and through a golden hearted, sweet, funny, extremely bright, don’t be fooled by that pretty face to think there’s nothing behind the eyes, bright, clever, intuitive, incisive, fabulous person.
“She’s a wonderful person, and you can see family is her absolutely everything and when somebody is rocked to the core by a threat of pure evil upon their actual life, my goodness it’s like something in the worst, most horrible movie, completely unthinkable and it really happened. “
She reflected: “You can see why she’s made the decision that she’s made. It would have been so incredibly hard for her and it’s going to be so hard for us because we’ll miss her because she’s just a ray of sunshine and wonderful person.
“I wish her all the best and most particularly, safety and love with her family.”
The TV presenter pulled out of hosting This Morning last Thursday and her London home was reportedly being guarded by police after a man was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap.
Last Friday, shopping centre security officer Gavin Plumb was charged with soliciting a man named David Nelson to commit murder, and incitement to commit kidnap between October 2 and 5 in Harlow, Essex.
Plumb is alleged to have conspired online with another man and created a “detailed plan” to carry out the offences.
The TV star’s former co-host Phillip Schofield left This Morning in May after he admitted to a relationship with a younger male former colleague.
An external review of the facts after Schofield’s departure is currently under way and ITV bosses have said both Schofield and his former lover “repeatedly denied” allegations of a relationship until the star quit ITV and formally apologised.
The daytime programme has continued to face scrutiny following Schofield’s departure, including claims the show fostered a “toxic” bullying culture.
Willoughby and Schofield, who had presented the show together since 2009, also co-hosted Dancing On Ice before Schofield’s ITV resignation. It is not clear yet whether Willoughby will present the next series of the celebrity competition, which is due to return in the new year.
Following Willoughby’s announcement, the managing director for media and entertainment at ITV, Kevin Lygo, said: “We are sad that Holly is leaving This Morning, but respect her decision which we know will have been extremely difficult for her to make.
“Holly is one of the best loved, respected and most accomplished broadcasters in the UK. She has been at the heart of This Morning for the past 14 years, and she is adored by our viewers.
“Holly has brought her unique brand of warmth, energy, humour and fun to one of the country’s most popular daytime shows, and everyone on the programme will miss her enormously.
“She remains a much loved member of the ITV family and we look forward to continuing to work with her in the future.”
