Holly Willoughby describes 'terror' of working with Phillip Schofield for the first time
27 December 2019, 19:42 | Updated: 27 December 2019, 19:43
The telly star revealed she was worried her Dancing on Ice debut would go "catastrophically" wrong.
Holly Willoughby has spoken out about the "terror" she felt when she first began working with Phillip Schofield 13 years ago.
The 38-year-old presenter confessed her initial co-hosting job alongside the children's TV star was "such a blur" as she was anxious it would all go wrong.
The mother-of-three, who snagged the Dancing on Ice role back in 2006, explained she would "cringe the whole way through" the show if she was forced to watch her debut back.
Speaking ahead of the 2020 series, Holly explained: "It was such a blur. It was so huge. It was primetime and I was stood next to Phillip Schofield!
"It was terrifying. I can’t remember any of the show apart from getting through it. It was about getting through the links on autocue without messing up! It could have been so catastrophically bad.
"I haven’t watched it back for a long time. I must have watched it back at the time, over and over again. To watch it now, I’d probably cringe the whole way through it.
"I can remember exactly what I was wearing. I was wearing a pair of shoes that were black satin and they had crystals all over the shoes and I had seen Emma Bunton wearing them once and I’d said I had wanted those shoes. How weird is it?"
Revealing all before the skating show's January launch, Phillip, 57, echoed his co-presenter's feelings and thanked the show for sparking their long-lasting friendship.
He said: “That first show was so huge! We were terrified, the pair of us were really scared. It was a very big show and a big new idea. There is also an element of danger with Dancing on Ice, which we don’t have in anything else.
“You’re constantly thinking ‘Wow. Someone could hurt themselves here. And it’s live.
“So, that’s why it worked so perfectly because we think at the same speed, we’ve got the same sense of humour. It works so well.”
Read more: Phillip Schofield PRANKED by Holly Willoughby's husband during boozy holiday
Holly, who recently went red-faced after being quizzed about "tensions" between herself and Phillip Schofield, also praised the show for making TV history with same-sex dance couple, Ian 'H' Watkins and Matt Evers.
She explained: "I think what that symbolises and what that means on how far we’ve come. A primetime show has a same-sex couple skating together and why shouldn’t they?
"It should have been happening a long time ago. For that reason, I’m very proud of Dancing on Ice."
Dancing on Ice returns to ITV screens on Sunday 5th January.
