‘Nothing can prepare you for something like that’: Holly Willoughby opens up about stalking case for first time
Holly Willoughby has opened up about her stalking ordeal for the first time in a new interview.
Last summer, former security guard Gavin Plumb received three life sentences for planning to kidnap, rape and murder the presenter.
And now Willoughby, who stepped back from television amid the ordeal and left ITV show This Morning, has given her first interview in more than a year.
The 43-year-old presenter told The Times: “It’s been a tough one. There’s no way of sugar-coating it.”
Willoughby, who will be back on screens next month in Netflix’s new survival series Celebrity Bear Hunt, said of her terrible year: “Nothing can prepare you for something like that. When something like that happens, you have a decision to make.
“You either decide, right, I can take this on board and it can absolutely affect all aspects of my life. Or I can make a choice to go, let’s focus on everything that’s positive and good, all those important things.”
She added: “I’m healthy and I’m happy. I’ve got a wonderful husband and children and family, I’ve got great friends. You have to go: I choose to positively move forward and rely on all those people – the police, the court, the judge, the jury – all those people to do their role. And that’s what I had to do.”
Willoughby said that, in a sense, stepping back from TV has been a good experience.
“You have to hold on to, ultimately, [how] all this serves its purpose. A lot of the change has been really good, you know?” she said.
“I’ve spent a long time not being able to take my kids to school and – I know, the school run, every [other] parent, they’d be like, ‘Christ, you absolutely dodged a bullet there.’ But there have been so many assemblies I haven’t been able to go to, so many things I’ve missed…
“… And actually I’m grateful for having this time. Without even realising it, I think I’ve missed that. It’s really lovely to get some of that back.”
Willoughby had hosted This Morning for 14 years. Her departure came just months after that of Phillip Schofield, who left the show following revelations he’d had an affair with a junior colleague. She did not discuss Schofield in the new interview.
Plumb is serving a minimum of 15 years and 85 days after he was unanimously found guilty of masterminding a depraved scheme to target the Willoughby – who was his “ultimate fantasy” – in a home invasion.
The former security guard, who had attacked women twice before, was caught after he unwittingly revealed details of his kidnap plot to an undercover US officer in a chatroom called “Abduct Lovers”.
The officer was so concerned about the “immediate danger” facing the mother of three that he alerted the FBI, who contacted the UK authorities.
After Plumb was arrested, officers later found more than a million images of women on his devices – including 10,322 of Willoughby.
Willoughby has made her return to the public eye slowly. She started with an appearance at the National Television Awards in September, then over Christmas she hosted You Bet! with Stephen Mulhern. She also recently resumed hosting ITV’s Dancing on Ice.
Celebrity Bear Hunt, starting on 5 February, sees celebrities including Mel B, Boris Becker and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen try to survive in the Costa Rican jungle and face getting hunted down by Bear Grylls.
