Phillip and Holly return to This Morning
Summer may be over, but it's not all bad news, because Phillip and Holly return to This Morning from Monday, 5th September!
We caught up with them on their holidays to find out what they've been up to, what we have in store on This Morning, and perhaps most importantly of all... when is Spin to Win coming back?!
How would you sum up your summer plans?
Phillip: The best time about summer is turning off the alarm and switching off! I usually have three alarms that get me up in the morning - two on my phone and one on the Alexa. When you’re getting up at 5.30am, you’ve got to be sure you’re going to wake up, and actually the final alarm really is my driver either phoning or banging on the window - that's when I know I’m cutting it fine!
Holly: Summertime for me is really about spending time with the kids and the family. School term time is really busy for them, and in telly land it’s as busy as ever too now that the world has opened up again. It’s all lovely of course, but it is nice to get that marker in the sand. I tend to take a bit of a break from social media at the same time as well, so for me, when I come back in September I'm ready to start again. It’s a real reset for me.
Did you get to see any members of the This Morning family during summer?
Holly: Well funny enough we got to see each other quite a bit… to see each other socially is always really nice!
Phillip: There were a few barbeques… and having Alison stay over recently was fun!
What do you miss most about the show and your co-host when you’re apart from one another?
Phillip: We just have such fun. I mean, in the make-up room in the mornings, everyone's chatting - it’s like ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!’ Everyone knows everything about everybody, and that’s nice…so I always miss that friendship group. But we all stay in touch outside of the show anyway, WhatsApping stuff and keeping up with everyone’s news. This Morning is more than just a show, it’s such a lovely group of people to come to work with and you do miss that - it’s not really a job! It's more than a job, it’s much, much more than that… and I’m not gonna lie, This Morning is one of my support groups and that’s a lovely thing to have.
Holly: As Phil says, we really have so much fun on the show. We're one great big family and that's what makes the show so special and unique. We definitely miss that during the summer, but we all stay in touch and will see each other during the break, so it's lovely to be on holiday mode together and catch up outside of the studio.
What have been your top moments on the show so far this year?
Phillip: The This Morning Forest was lovely, I think that was a really good idea and we’ve been able to do the show from there and use it a lot which has been fun, but also, it’s there for a good reason [for us to maintain, and ensure nothing gets builts on the site].
It has also been great to get back into partnership with CALM and touch on mental health, and I’ve been very proud of the work that we’ve done in highlighting HRT and the menopause… which is probably a strange thing for a bloke to say, but sitting there listening to the fiasco that so many of our viewers have gone through - it’s something like 51% of the population will be going through it, and even now, systems and information is still not right for many, so it’s great that we’ve been helping with this.
H: One hundred per cent. I’ve loved the stuff we’ve done - and will continue to do - around the menopause. It’s really opened up so much conversation between me and my friends, and family members as well. I feel like there’s so much stuff I’ve learnt this year, and actually there’s really great solutions available that I had no idea about. For something that can feel all-consuming and frightening, to have people to break it down and explain such complex issues with accessible solutions, leaves you with frustration that people are not getting the right information or the right access to things, so I think our work with that has been really amazing.
With your return in September - is it almost like going back to school - packing your bag the night before, wondering if you’ve forgotten how to write (in this case, present the show!)
Holly: You know what, I sometimes forget what I’m doing after a long weekend! But you soon get back into the swing of things and that’s nice when there’s two of you because if I was on my own I’d be much more worried about that… we’ve always got each other to fall back on.
Phillip: I never unpack my work bag, so on the last Friday the only thing I ever really packed away was my earpiece! My bag then goes on a little bench in my hallway and when it comes to returning I just pick it back up again! Thankfully there isn’t massive prep, there are so many other things to worry about in my head, but thankfully, after 40 years, telly is a solid safe thing that I know how to do, and with 20 of those being on This Morning I don’t get nervous here!
Television award season is almost here; how important is it to still get support from the viewers after all these years and how does it feel to win them?
Holly: Everyone says, ‘Oh it’s not about the awards’ but when the awards are voted for by either the readers [of the magazine awards] or viewers then absolutely it’s that because you make the show for the audience, the people who are watching, and I think This Morning belongs to everybody who works on it and everyone who watches it, so those awards belong to everybody. And it’s nice to know people love it as much as they always have. It’s really important and means so much to us!
Phillip: The show has been running a very long time and it's as relevant now - more so, possibly - than it ever has been. We’ve been through hell over two years together, so it’s amazing that we are still getting nominated even. The viewers' votes are always the biggest ones because you don't get a bigger seal of approval than winning a viewers vote. Those are the big ones, always.
Can viewers expect any surprises or new things this Autumn? Are you already thinking about your Halloween outfit for this year?
Holly: I know that we have some brand new series with Gino showing us around his homeland in Sardinia which will be amazing because it’s a fantastic place!
P: And I’m still thinking about my Halloween costume for this year…
Join Phillip and Holly on This Morning, along with special guests and the return of Spin to Win, from Monday 5th September on ITV, STV and the ITV Hub.