Secrets of Holly Willoughby’s TV comeback REVEALED – and the photo that says: I’m back! Star stuns in £3,200 red Vivienne Westwood dress with her loyal Dancing on Ice co-star Stephen Mulhern… as she vows to forget horror of ‘kidnapping plot’

It’s the dazzling smile that her army of fans has been missing for months.

Dressed in a stunning £3,200 red Vivienne Westwood dress, Holly Willoughby beams as she poses alongside her new TV sidekick Stephen Mulhern as she prepares for her comeback on Dancing On Ice this Sunday.

And the return marks the first time Holly, 42, has posed for a photoshoot since a terrifying alleged plot to kidnap and kill her emerged.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal she met Mulhern, 46, for the photos two weeks ago – just days after making her first public outing since early October, when a former Essex security officer was accused of contacting a hitman in the US to kidnap and kill her.

It is understood she and Mulhern did not meet the show’s judges, including Olympic gold medalists Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, but instead had their own private shoot in a London studio.

Holly Willoughby wowed in a £3,200 red Vivienne Westwood dress as she prepares for her Dancing On Ice comeback alongside Stephen Mulhern

Stephen and Holly pictured in 2006 on CITV

Holly previously presented the hit ITV show with her former boyfriend and This Morning co-star Phillip Schofield.

For Holly, it was a return to normality in her life as she was joined by her stylist Danielle Whiteman, who carefully selected the £3,200 Vivienne Westwood dress.

A friend said: ‘It was quite an emotional day, it felt like the start of a routine after months of being at home and disconnected from the outside world.

‘But Holly has always loved wearing dreamy princess-style dresses on Dancing On Ice, it was always her time to really dress up.’

It was a doubly special reunion with Mulhern, ITV’s popular and long-serving star presenting the reboot of Deal Or No Deal and Catchphrase, because he was by her side when she got her first big break on TV almost two decades ago.

The pair hosted ITV morning children’s shows Ministry Of Mayhem and Holly & Stephen’s Saturday Showdown in their 20s and have had an unbreakable bond ever since.

‘It really made a difference to Holly’s mentality to know that Stephen would be with her all the time. It really made her smile,” the friend added.

Holly signed the deal at Christmas and is said to be ‘excited’ to be returning to the show she co-hosted with her former boyfriend Phillip Schofield for years.

Joining Holly on Dancing On Ice are (L-R) judges Oti Mabuse, Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean and Ashley Banjo

‘When you have so much history with someone, you feel safe. The past year has been a huge change for her.

‘For years Phil was with her and suddenly he was gone. To be working with Stephen again at such a poignant time in her career is special for Holly. Whether she returned to Dancing On Ice was a dilemma for Holly, some gentle persuasion from Stephen certainly helped seal the deal.’

This Sunday at 6.30pm she will co-host the programme, featuring Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards and former Brookside actress Claire Sweeney, from ITV’s studio at the old RAF base in Bovingdon, Hertfordshire.

It’s a moment she’s been mentally preparing for since deciding to step back into the spotlight over the Christmas period.

Friends of the mother-of-three say she will not elaborate on her alleged kidnap plot, but is using the return of Dancing On Ice as a chance to move on with her life and try to forget the past three months of devastation. at least until the suspect’s trial in June.

‘It’s unlikely she’ll even acknowledge her time off. It will be a case of ‘business as usual’,” says a source close to Holly.

Security in the studios has been so strict for years that there is little ITV can do to improve it. Network chiefs are therefore satisfied that it is ‘super safe’ for the star.

It comes after Holly resigned from This Morning in October (pictured in September 2023) after she was ultimately ‘tipped over the edge’ by an alleged ‘kidnapping and murder plot’

She and Schofield, 61, co-presented Dancing On Ice from 2018, when the show was revived after a four-year hiatus. However, the pair also anchored it from its launch in 2006 until 2012, when Christine Lampard briefly replaced Holly until 2014.

It was how Schofield and Holly met and ITV sources say if it hadn’t been for Dancing On Ice she might not have been given the chance to co-present This Morning.

She replaced Fern Britton as co-host of This Morning with Schofield from 2009 until May last year, when he quit after admitting lying about an affair with a younger male colleague.

Holly eventually announced her departure from This Morning in October, days after reports of the alleged kidnap plot emerged.

DANCING ON ICE: MEET THE PARTICIPANTS OF 2024

RICKY HATTON

AGE: 44

PROFESSION: Former professional boxer

WHAT DID HE SAY? “If I can control my nerves in the boxing ring, I should also be able to control my nerves on the ice rink.”

HANNA SPEARRITT

AGE: 42

PROFESSION: SINGER

WHAT DID SHE SAY? ‘I’m really excited about learning a new skill. It’s so easy to live a comfortable life and that aspect of mixing things up is very attractive.’

GREG RUTHERFORD

AGE: 36

PROFESSION: Athlete

WHAT DID HE SAY? “I like a challenge and I needed a reason to start doing things again and here we are. I want to do something that has never been done before, that’s my goal.’

Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards