EXCLUSIVE: Free to dance, Holly? BBC ‘aims to lure Willoughby to Strictly’ as This Morning star bounces back after Phillip Schofield scandal
BBC bosses are plotting to cha-cha-chase Holly Willoughby and hand her one of the most coveted roles in television – hosting Strictly Come Dancing.
Executives at the broadcaster, including chief content officer Charlotte Moore, have made no secret of their desire to poach the presenter from ITV for their primetime weekend slots – but so far there hasn’t been a show big enough for her.
But The Mail on Sunday has learned that the BBC is looking at how it can give the This Morning star a role on Strictly.
The dance competition, which is screened on Saturday nights and hosted held by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, pulls in more than seven million viewers per episode.
One insider at the Corporation said: ‘Holly is the golden goose. BBC bosses want her and they have been plotting for some time to get her for their big shows.
EXCLUSIVE: BBC bosses are plotting to cha-cha-chase Holly Willoughby and hand her one of the most coveted roles in television – hosting Strictly Come Dancing
‘They know how popular she is, but it also has to be the right programme. Recently there has been talk around the BBC that Strictly would be a way to lure her over.
‘There are ideas of how she could slot in – nobody is quite sure about that yet but they think she would be perfect.
‘It seems like a big project to get her to do it, and would mean moving things around on the show somehow, but there are some executives at the BBC who want it to happen.’
Ms Willoughby has fronted several BBC shows before, most recently alongside Lee Mack for the midweek programme Freeze The Fear With Wim Hof.
Last November the BBC made a public show of how much it wanted to lure her for more projects when she was guest of honour on Ms Moore’s table at the Variety Showbusiness Awards.
ITV bosses were said to be ‘seething’ after the event, which took place at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.
Also in attendance was Ms Willoughby’s TV producer husband Dan Baldwin, who makes programmes for the BBC, including Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel.
Following false reports that Ms Willoughby’s former This Morning co-host, Phillip Schofield, was being tapped up to star on Strictly, the BBC was quick to dispel the rumours, telling this newspaper how it was firmly on ‘Team Holly’ and would never have Schofield on its entertainment shows.
Exciting! The Mail on Sunday has learned that the BBC is looking at how it can give the This Morning star a role on Strictly (hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are pictured)
A BBC chief also said there was ‘more chance of Gordon the Gopher appearing on the dancefloor’ – a reference to the glove-puppet that served as Schofield’s mascot on children’s TV in the 1980s and 1990s.
The BBC may be hoping to sign Ms Willoughby on a golden handcuffs deal, but she is thought to take the view that she will go wherever the work is.
She has also made it clear that she wants to keep her job hosting both This Morning and the ITV hit Dancing On Ice following Schofield’s departure from both.
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