BBC ‘trying to tempt Holly Willoughby away from ITV’

‘She’s very much a key target’: Holly Willoughby ‘was BBC’s guest of honour at Variety Awards ceremony as the broadcaster attempts to tempt her away from ITV for various projects’

  • Holly WIlloughby was the BBC’s guest of honour at the Variety Showbusiness Awards last week as the broadcaster reportedly continues to try to tempt over to their stable of talent
  • The television presenter, 41, and her husband, TV executive Dan Baldwin, 47, were personally invited to the glitzy bash by BBC content boss Charlotte Moore
  • It has been claimed Holly was left feeling ‘upset’ over ITV’s handling of queue-gate – which saw Holly and her This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield avoid the line as the Queen lie in state following her September death
  • The BBC are apparently keen on Holly to be a part of a number of their projects 

Holly WIlloughby was the BBC’s guest of honour at the Variety Showbusiness Awards last week as the broadcaster reportedly continues to try to tempt over to their stable of talent.

The television presenter, 41, and her husband, TV executive Dan Baldwin, 47, were personally invited to the glitzy bash by BBC content boss Charlotte Moore, according to The Sun.

It has been claimed Holly was left feeling ‘upset’ over ITV’s handling of queue-gate – which saw Holly and her This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield avoid the line as the Queen lie in state following her September death – with the BBC apparently keen on Holly to be a part of a number of their projects.

On the move? Holly WIlloughby was the BBC’s guest of honour at the Variety Showbusiness Awards last week as the broadcaster reportedly continues to try to tempt over to their stable

A source told the newspaper: ‘Holly is very much a key target for the BBC and she was their guest at the Variety Club awards.

‘Holly was wined and dined by Charlotte who is keen to get Holly on board for some of their upcoming big shows.

‘Her husband Dan is on board and thinks Holly could make great strides at the Beeb.’

Looking back: It was claimed Holly felt 'upset' over ITV's handling of queue-gate, which saw Holly and her This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield avoid the line as the Queen lie in state

Looking back: It was claimed Holly felt ‘upset’ over ITV’s handling of queue-gate, which saw Holly and her This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield avoid the line as the Queen lie in state

Star quality: It is claimed Holly was personally invited to the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards by BBC content boss Charlotte Moore

Star quality: It is claimed Holly was personally invited to the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards by BBC content boss Charlotte Moore

The source added that the BBC have made it very clear that they value Holly as a broadcaster and they would would love to have her appear on their programmes.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Holly for comment.

Holly and Phil battled an escalating public backlash for apparently ‘jumping the line’ to see the Queen lying in state at the Palace of Westminster.

Backlash: Holly and her co-presenter Phillip sparked a massive public backlash for 'skipping the queue' to see the Queen lying in state earlier this year

Backlash: Holly and her co-presenter Phillip sparked a massive public backlash for ‘skipping the queue’ to see the Queen lying in state earlier this year

The presenters – who are reportedly paid as much as £600,000 for hosting This Morning from Mondays to Thursdays – faced growing fury after images of them appearing to ‘skip the queue’ emerged on Friday while tens of thousands of mourners patiently waited for 12 hours at a time to pay their respects to Her Majesty.

Holly was reportedly in floods of tears as she and Phil both begged This Morning bosses to defend them from the ensuing storm.

However, it was previously claimed Holly would not quit ITV after meeting with bosses.  

Entering: Phillip and Holly are seen in a video posted on TikTok leaving Westminster Hall after they carried out filming and were accused of jumping the queue

Entering: Phillip and Holly are seen in a video posted on TikTok leaving Westminster Hall after they carried out filming and were accused of jumping the queue

A source close to Holly told the MailOnline that they ‘spent most of today speaking to producers about queue-gate, they have assured her that viewer reaction has not been as bad as the social media fallout.

‘Many show insiders still fear what the future may hold but bosses seem to have calmed her down from the weekend where she was very upset about the whole thing. 

‘The row has only brought her close to Philip too.’

Speaking out: Phillip and Holly later addressed the issue on ITV's This Morning, saying they filmed a segment for the show

Speaking out: Phillip and Holly later addressed the issue on ITV’s This Morning, saying they filmed a segment for the show

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