Morninggate - Daily Mail: Willoughby will return to This Morning to save the troubled ITV show

Story from Daily Mail:

There were fears that This Morning could be axed amid the fallout over Phillip Schofield’s affair with a much younger colleague.

And those concerns only grew after Holly Willoughby disappeared on holiday earlier this month without saying goodbye to viewers.

But a source close to the 42-year-old has revealed that, far from quitting, the presenter is set to sign a lucrative new contract – and with it save the show.

The source confirmed she will be back on the daytime programme – which she has presented for 14 years – in September as its main star.

Even This Morning’s behind-the-scenes staff were convinced that Ms Willoughby was ‘quietly quitting’ following Schofield’s resignation two months ago.

These suspicions grew after she missed ITV’s summer party last week and failed to tell This Morning fans that she was going on holiday.

It was in stark contrast to last year when Ms Willoughby – who also missed a show last month after losing her voice following a boozy trip to Glastonbury – signed off for the summer with much fanfare alongside Schofield.

Her return will coincide with the findings of ITV’s external investigation into the toxic work culture which has taken place on the show.

ITV bosses have been under pressure to overhaul This Morning after Schofield, 61, admitted that he lied to this newspaper over a relationship he had with a much younger runner on the programme some years ago.

It prompted him to quit the network after almost three decades. 11-It is likely that Ms Willoughby will be paid more than the current £700,000 salary that she receives for hosting the programme four days a week.

She has for many months wanted to host the show alongside Alison Hammond.

Since Schofield left, Ms Willoughby has presented This Morning with Dermot O’Leary, Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle.

‘Quiet quitting’, which was first popularised on TikTok, describes a workplace behaviour whereby employees perform the bare minimum amount of work to avoid getting fired, before eventually leaving.