TV & Showbiz

Holly Willoughby’s statement in full as presenter QUITS This Morning after 14 years

Oh this is sad news.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 10th October 2023

Holly Willoughby has quit This Morning after more than 14 years presenting the show.

The 42-year-old star has been off air for much of the last week after an alleged kidnapping and murder plot came to light.

And now she has confirmed that she won’t be returning to the award-winning ITV show, saying she has taken the decision ‘for me and my family’.

Holly’s heartfelt statement shared this afternoon thanked all the viewers of This Morning, as well as the crew who work on the show and the guests who have joined her on the sofa over the last 14 years.

A man was charged earlier this week with soliciting to commit murder over an alleged plot to kidnap the TV presenter.

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It’s been reported that the mum-of-three has been under police protection at her home.

Holly’s statement announcing her departure from This Morning is the first time she has spoken publicly since the alleged kidnapping plot.

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Holly Willoughby was perhaps best-known for co-presenting This Morning with Philip Schofield, who also quit the programme earlier this year.

Holly Willoughby’s statement as she quits This Morning

I have let ITV know today that after 14 years, I will not be returning to This Morning.

To everyone who has ever worked on the show over the years, thank you so so much. This is such a difficult goodbye, you are incredible and I forever will be proud of what we’ve done together. Thank you to everyone at ITV for being supportive. To every guest who has sat on our sofa, thank you.

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Most of all, thank you to the wonderful viewers. You’ve been so loyal, so supportive and the very best company every day.

Richard and Judy said ‘we only look after this show, it will always belong to the viewers’. It’s been an honour to just be part of it’s story and I know this story has many chapters left to go. Sadly, however. I now feel I have to make this decision for me and my family.

I will miss you all so much.

Holly.

Featured image: Instagram, @hollywilloughby

TV & Showbiz

We rediscovered an old Boddingtons advert and now we’re gasping for ‘the cream of Manchester’

Danny Jones Danny Jones Old Boddingtons ad cream of Manchester canal

If you’re from Greater Manchester, the name Boddingtons likely needs no introduction, but if you’re new to the area or part of the generation that’s young enough to have never clocked the legendary logo before, the ‘Cream of Manchester’ was known for making a good advert or two.

Answers on a postcard? Yes, we of course are referring to the classic ice cream van ad that featured a young Melanie Sykes serving an ice-cold pint of Boddingtons to a thirsty athlete, played by former EastEnders actor Ken George.

In fact, the recognisable TV presenter and British household name went on to feature in a few of them, including a contemporary recreation back in 2017, but it isn’t any of her appearances that recently re-captured our attention.

The old ‘Boddies’ ad that we stumbled across in 2025, more than 30 years on from when it originally aired, is the Gondola/’Just One Cornetto’ spoof filmed right here in the city centre along Manchester’s famous canal network.

Circa 1993. Recognise where it is?

Just as beautiful as Venice, if you ask us – and that’s just the pint…

As you can see, not only did the once beloved Boddingtons advert capture a glimpse of the River Irwell near the old Granada Studios and how Manchester’s waterways used to look back in the day, but it was also a pretty modern, ironic take for the time.

Inspired by arguably one of the most famous ads of all time, the Boddies marketing team and director Jeff Stark didn’t just imitate or poke fun at Wall’s Cornetto ice cream: they played on the genuine nickname and imagery drummed up by locals who drank it week in, week out.

The famous frothy white head and the ‘do you want a Flake with that?’ is the kind of joke you still hear to this day when someone overdoes it with a Guinness, but turning the glass into a golden ice cream was a bit of genius.

In fact, the old Boddies ad even helped launch the career of stingy ‘Gladys Althorpe’ herself, Anna Chancellor, who went on to appear in What A Girl Wants, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and many more.

She and Sykes weren’t the only ones either; another admittedly sexually-charged campaign released roughly a year later featured another familiar face in Sarah Parish (Doctor Who, Trollied, The Wedding Date) – again, always ending with a stereotypically Manc, if not at least Northern, punchline.

It was smash hits like these that saw Boddingtons dubbed not only Manchester’s most famous beverage but ‘the Cream of Marketing‘ for a time as well.

The beer may not be as prominent as it once was, but its legacy as part of classic UK telly is up there with R Whites Lemonade, Dairy Milk, Compare The Meerkat, and so many more.

You can see a super-cut compilation of some of their retro ads HERE.

Oh yeah, and if watching all this has made you get a thirst on like it did us, you’ll be glad to hear that while it may be difficult to locate these days, there are still a few places you can find a pint of Boddies in and around the area.

The lost art of Boddingtons, and which pubs still serve The Cream of Manchester
By ‘eck, it’s still gorgeous.

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Featured Images — advertarchive (screenshot via YouTube)

TV & Showbiz

Why fans are fearing cancellation of Catfish and The Bottlemen’s massive Manchester gig

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia Will Catfish Manchester gig Heaton Park be cancelled

Indie rockers Catfish and The Bottlemen are playing a headline show at Heaton Park in Manchester, but plenty of gig-goers have a genuine fear of a potential cancellation.

The Welsh band known for their stacked roster of hits, including ‘Cocoon’, ‘Kathleen’, ‘7’, ‘Pacifier’ and many more, are set to play Heaton Park on 13 June, but there has already been a fair amount of scepticism among fans online.

Just last year, Catfish and The Bottlemen cancelled an array of international shows, including one rather long-awaited gig in Ireland.

This Irish date would’ve marked the band’s first show in the country in five years; however, 15 minutes before doors were due to open, the Dublin date got cancelled.

Catfish and The Bottlemen are expected to play at Heaton Park on 13 June
Catfish and The Bottlemen are expected to play at Heaton Park on 13 June / Credit: Supplied

No comments were made by the band as to why this decision happened, instead, all updates and communication came from the ticket company directly.

MCD Productions, who were in charge of hosting the would-be gig at Fairview Park, revealed that the reason for the abrupt cancellation of Catfish’s Ireland gig was due to ‘artist illness’, stating that all attendees would be issued and are entitled to a full refund.

The following week, Catfish also cancelled all of their US and Australia tour with no official statement from the rock group, and fans were frustrated to say the least.

Two weeks after these stark cancellations, the indie rockers announced two stadium shows: Cardiff and London, with the Manchester date in Heaton Park revealed a month later – all scheduled for this summer.

The issues don’t just lie with gig cancellations either; the band’s lineup has been in turmoil over recent years, with musicians joining and leaving this Welsh rock act.

Catfish and The Bottlemen back in 2016 ahead of Sound City in Liverpool
Catfish and The Bottlemen back in 2016 ahead of Sound City in Liverpool / Credit: Supplied

Most notably, former guitarist Johnny Bond, who originally left the band in 2021, issued a statement in 2022 via Instagram about “behaviour constantly re-occurring” that he found to be “intolerable”.

Only two original members remain: Van McCann, lead singer and now the main guitarist since Billy Bibby left in 2021, and Benji Blakeway, the band’s bassist and backing vocalist.

Many have speculated on some of that behaviour, and the source behind at least some of the band’s problems is the extremely talented, charismatic, but often frenetic frontman himself; you only need to search his name on the likes of TikTok to fall down the rabbit hole.

While there are lots dismissing some of his behaviour on stage as nothing more than loose, in-the-moment ‘rockstar energy’, others have expressed concern for his well-being at times.

Catfish’s latest Instagram post reporting the fact that the Heaton Park date is now sold out has been met with hundreds of comments from fans worrying that it won’t go ahead.

One user wrote, “Are u gonna cancel this one 7 mins before doors open too?”, while another took to the comment section to say, “I’ll be there. Don’t know about van tho”.

Replies to their tweets on X (formerly Twitter) have been similar too, as one fan writes: “Don’t worry guys, it’ll be cancelled soon!”.

These are, of course, just a taste of a much larger sample size, as their ‘comeback’ in February 2024 with ‘Showtime’ – their first new song in five years – looked like it could be the start of a new album cycle, but there hasn’t been anything else since then.

Barring the 10th anniversary version of their debut LP, The Balcony, and the re-release of old single and cult favourite ‘ASA’, there’s very little to suggest that there is even a latest project that currently exists to make any progress on.

Catfish and The Bottlemen are scheduled to play Heaton Park in Manchester on 13 June – let’s hope it’s not a ‘Longshot’. For those of you going, do you have any actual doubts whether or not it will go ahead?

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images – Publicity Pictures (via Supplied)/Kaleb Nimz (via Unsplash)

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