Holly Willoughby left without an ITV show for first time in 21 years after Dancing On Ice axe

03/27/2025 05:22 AM

HOLLY Willoughby has been left without a prime-time ITV show for the first time in 21 years.

The huge telly switch came after The Sun was first to report how Dancing On Ice – the ITV reality TV series she fronted with Stephen Mulhern, 47 – was being shelved.

We exclusively revealed how the skating series has been scrapped by the broadcaster for the second time.

After Holly, 44, quit quiz show You Bet! – another programme she fronted with comedian and magician Stephen – the DOI axe leaves her with no ITV show for the first time in more than two decades.

Holly has been a familiar face as the darling of ITV and ITV2, with shows including This Morning, Surprise Surprise, Celebrity Juice and The Xtra Factor.

She also fronted I’m A Celebrity in 2018 in regular host Ant McPartlin’s absence as well as Play To The Whistle.

Yet with Dancing On Ice the final show in her portfolio coming to an end, ITV viewers won’t have a dose of Holly on their screens.

This year, she fronted Netflix series Celebrity Bear Hunt with explorer Bear Grylls.

Yet the presenter – who is married to telly producer Dan Baldwin and has a busy life as a mum of three away from the cameras – is sure to be keeping busy.

LOSING GRIP

The Sun was first to report how ITV were losing their grip on “golden girl” Holly.

It came as she eyed a £10million telly mega deal and planned to follow in the footsteps of one stellar presenter.

There is still the option of taking on key projects with the BBC, including a potential reboot of Cilla Black's best-known show, Blind Date.

The dating programme has already been mooted by Holly's husband, producer Dan, as a potential big-budget revival.

When discussing the success of the challenge contest, Dan said he would look at other favourites to revive, and instantly brought up Blind Date, which Cilla fronted from 1985 to 2003.

Dan said: "Another one you'd like to see back, Blind Date, are we ready for that? What a Saturday night that was. I'm thinking Blind Date with Claudia Winkleman on BBC1."

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A TV insider previously told us: "There might not sound like obvious parallels between Holly and Cilla, but they're both two of the biggest stars of modern telly.

"It's not pure coincidence either that when ITV decided to reboot Surprise, Surprise — another show made famous by Cilla — it was girl-next-door Holly they turned to.

"So the prospect of her fronting a reboot of Blind Date is a very real one, and a pairing that many viewers could see as a natural fit.

"Emulating Cilla isn't just about taking on her shows, it's as much about carving out a niche as a solo presenter with serious clout in the world of telly.

"But together with her husband Dan, they form the ultimate power couple in TV. She has the public appeal that gets viewers tuning in, while he has a track record of making hugely successful TV shows."

Holly has previously praised Cilla for blazing a trail with her TV career in the Eighties and Nineties.

Cilla — who died aged 72 in 2015 — had fronted Surprise Surprise from 1984 to 2001.

Talking around the 2012 reboot of Surprise, Surprise, Holly said: "It was one of my biggest fears that Cilla wouldn't like it as she's a bit of an icon for me . . . you can only aspire to have a career like that.

"She is an incredible lady. Cilla was like the female anchor, she was the first. I have a lot of respect for her."