As queen of the sofa for more than a decade, Holly Willoughby was one of the best-paid female stars in the country.
As well as her £600,000 salary for her long-running stint hosting ITV’s This Morning, she also raked in hundreds of thousands of pounds over the years through endorsement deals with the likes of Marks & Spencer and Garnier.
But it’s not been all plain sailing.
Holly’s time on This Morning came to an abrupt end in 2023, when it emerged that former security guard Gavin Plumb – subsequently jailed for life – was planning to kidnap and murder her. She took a step back from presenting duties in response.
That same year, Holly endured a distressing fallout with her best friend Phillip Schofield over his brother Timothy’s sex offences trial. She also said, later, that Schofield had lied to her about having an affair with one of their younger This Morning colleagues.
These episodes ‘knocked the wind out of Holly,’ says one source.
Holly with husband Dan Baldwin at Silverstone in 2016. Television sources suggest Baldwin’s new deal could be worth ‘well over £2million’ for him and his consortium
Despite being largely absent from our screens right now, Holly need not worry about paying the bills, however. And that’s because she has a husband who has dutifully stepped in as the breadwinner – and is making so much money that the couple have recently bought what I’m told is ‘an insanely beautiful forever home’.
In fact, media entrepreneur Dan Baldwin, 50 – who met Holly when she was presenting children’s programme Ministry of Mayhem – is making a fortune, especially after this past weekend, when his latest lucrative venture went live.
Baldwin’s production company has entered into a partnership with America’s National Football League (NFL), Channel 5 (which now wants to be known as ‘5’) and US media giant Paramount to bring live coverage of American football to UK viewers.
The consortium has even bagged the rights to broadcast the Super Bowl in this country, the most watched annual sporting event in America and the second most popular around the world after the soccer World Cup – with nearly 200 million people world wide tuning in each year.
Television sources suggest the deal could be worth ‘well over £2million’ for Baldwin and his consortium.
The new American football show will be presented by one of his best friends, Dermot O’Leary, 52, along with former NFL player Osi Umenyiora, 43, and hockey player-turned-sports-presenter Sam Quek, 36.
While Holly would be an obvious choice to host Baldwin’s programmes, she has only ever fronted one, a Saturday night gameshow for the BBC called Take Off with Holly & Bradley
Baldwin is thrilled, say industry insiders.
‘It is the deal of the year,’ according to one. ‘Dan pulled it off. It’s lovely, actually, as it means the pressure is off Holly to wait for the right job to come up.
‘She has been to hell and back in the past two years. It has been awful for her. What happened with Phil was bad enough but then along came the kidnap plot.
‘It’s great she has some time to decompress. Dan is making sure the money is still coming in while Holly can have some time out.’
The NFL deal has come as no surprise to industry insiders – for Hungry Bear Media is behind some of the UK’s biggest primetime shows.
Baldwin is regarded as something of a Saturday night saviour by TV executives. His Hungry Bear makes The Wheel and Big Show, both presented by Michael McIntyre, as well as Nineties revival Gladiators, which has just been recommissioned for two more series.
The company is also behind Judge Ramesh for the BBC plus Bradley and Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad for ITV. There is also a re-boot of Blind Date in the works for the Disney+ channel.
No doubt there’s more success to come, as Holly and Baldwin are some of the best networkers in the industry.
Baldwin is close to presenter Bradley Walsh, Dermot O’Leary, Ant and Dec and numerous others.
‘Together, Dan and Holly make a smashing pairing,’ says a source who knows them both. ‘They have the whole industry covered between them.’
While Holly would be an obvious choice to host Baldwin’s programmes, she has only ever fronted one, a Saturday night gameshow for the BBC called Take Off with Holly & Bradley. It came to an end during Covid.
Baldwin’s television career, meanwhile, started at the BBC as a researcher on children’s show Live & Kicking. He then became a series producer with the corporation, followed by a role as head of programmes and production at MTV aged 29.
He co-founded Hungry Bear Media in 2014.
The TV power couple are now thought to be worth around £15million – some £12million of which is thought to have been contributed by Holly.
Baldwin and Holly married in August 2007, one year after meeting, holding their wedding reception at 900-year-old Amberley Castle on the South Downs. O’Leary was one of the ushers.
Today, the pair have three children, Harry, 16, Belle, 14 and Chester, 10. The family have recently upgraded from a £3million home in southwest London to a new six-bedroom £8million mansion. Those familiar with the new house describe it as ‘amazing’.
There is also a £2million property in Portugal.
We have seen little of Holly since her departure from This Morning.
She hosted Netflix’s Bear Hunt, which failed to be renewed for a second season. And now that Dancing on Ice – which she had presented since 2006 – has finally been brought to an end by ITV, the presenter is understood to be considering her options.
So, will she be tempted to step in front of the cameras for her husband anytime soon? It would be a coup for Dan, of course.
‘Probably not,’ says one pal. ‘Holly likes to do her own thing. She can get her own work. She is the kind of woman who likes to find her own way and be judged on her own merit.
‘Holly prides herself on being a strong woman who doesn’t need to rely on a man.’
