How Holly Willoughby went from boozy Saturday morning presenter to wholesome daytime star

Holly Willoughby is ITV’s golden girl, reportedly taking home more than £1.3million last year thanks to her work on This Morning, Dancing On Ice and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

But just where did Holly come from, and how did she climb to the heady heights of fame?

The spotlight came calling for the TV star back in 1995 when she was just 14 and happened to be visiting the Clothes Show Live in Birmingham. A talent scout who was on the lookout for new models spotted her, and shortly afterwards Holly signed up with Storm Model Management – the same agency that discovered British supermodel Kate Moss.

Holly’s natural curly brunette hair and big blue eyes were a hit with teen magazines like Mizz, More! and Just Seventeen, and at the age of 17, the rising starlet landed a gig with lingerie brand Pretty Polly to star in their adverts and posters.

After just two short years of modelling, Holly decided to turn her hand to TV and won an audition to appear in the S Club 7 TV show, S Club TV, in which she played a character called Zoe who had to teach Paul Cattermole how to kiss.

But it was the children’s Saturday morning entertainment show Ministry of Mayhem that really boosted Holly’s star power, and she was an instant hit among young audiences alongside co-presenter Stephen Mulhern. Just two years after starting, the show’s name was changed to Holly & Stephen’s Saturday Showdown to reflect the popularity of the two hosts.

Being in her early twenties, Holly would often go out on the lash the night before work, which resulted in some pretty grim moments.

After one particularly heavy night, Holly vomited on air and on another occasion her boobs popped out of her dress.

Holly previously told Live magazine she eventually had to tone down her wild antics after it just got “bonkers”.

She explained: “There were times when we went straight from the hotel bar to going live on air.

“Everyone in children’s TV drinks until 5am. If you mess up, no one cares…

“It got a bit too wild when my breast popped out of my dress.”

The This Morning host added that the wacky games on kids shows didn’t help her hangovers.

She joked: “It doesn’t help when you read the script and you’ve got to drink anchovies in custard with some eight year old…

“No matter how hard you scrub in the shower, you can’t get the smell of custard pie off your skin.”

Holly’s boozy nights out didn’t stop when she was announced as Fern Britton’s replacement on This Morning in September 2009, starring alongside Phillip Schofield, who reportedly convinced ITV chiefs she was the perfect woman for the job.

The pair quickly became close friends and confidantes, even teaming up for family holidays with their respective spouses and children.

Holly was one of the first people Phillip told about being gay, and she was a shoulder for him to cry on when he bravely came out on live TV earlier this year.

Holding back tears as she read out his prepared statement on This Morning, Holly told her bestie that she had “never been more proud of my friend than I have today”.

She added that she would “always be by your side” as they shared a warm hug.