HOLLY fights back

There’s likely no pay rise and I doubt ITV thinks she’s the winning formula, but the star needs to prove she is queen bee once more, writes TV expert Sarah-Louise Robertson

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Holly’s £1m ITV payday ran the headline, with a story of the This Morning presenter being the saviour of the ITV show.

But reports that the defiant star is in the lolly and has been offered a £300,000 pay increase on her current £700,000 salary to sit back on the This Morning sofa next month as its top presenter are wide of the mark, I understand.

The news – quite understandably, in the current economic crisis, with many struggling to pay their bills – was met with an outcry of indignation from the public, aghast because, and I quote, ‘Why should she be paid more money for chatting? In the climate of hardship in the public at keeping jobs and paying mortgages & bills, it is insulting to learn ITV pay extravagant wages to presenters!’

These sentiments were echoed by many on social media, all scratching their heads in disbelief at ITV’s reported decision to keep Holly on Mondays to Thursdays with a rotating series of lackeys – sorry, guest presenters – to enhance her on screen.

Warning sign

Behind the scenes, I hear that some This Morning staff expressed surprise at Holly’s return being heralded in the press, after she slipped off with hardly a farewell to take a hiatus from the show to sun herself in Portugal with her family.

Her earlier-than-planned holiday was viewed by some – erroneously – as a warning sign that she wouldn’t remain on the show.