I’m a body language expert – five ways ‘sad’ Holly Willoughby shows she’s out of kilter without Phillip on This Morning
HOLLY Willoughby appeared “sad”, “prim” and “tense” as she hosted This Morning for the second time without Phillip Schofield, according to a body language expert.
Holly, 42, returned to This Morning yesterday after being absent from the set for the past two weeks — during which time former pal Phillip, 61, came clean about his affair with a much younger ITV runner.
Phillip, who was married at the time, branded the relationship “unwise but not illegal”.
In today’s show, we saw Holly with her co-host Josie, Gibson, following yesterday’s emotional statement.
The Sun revealed last night she vowed “never to mention Phillip Schofield again” after having to address the scandal on camera.
Today, body language expert Judi James told Fabulous that Holly appeared sad, prim and tense on today’s episode, suggesting that she is still “out of kilter” without Phillip by her side.
Judi said: “Schofield might have been jet-washed out of the This Morning studio yesterday but something still looked out of kilter about Holly and Josie’s body language today.”
‘Frequent blinking’
Judi noticed Holly’s frequent blinking, as she explained: “Popping up for their show promo on Lorraine, it looked like Holly’s mouth smile was needing more effort, while her sparkle-free eye expression looked sad, with some frequent blinking.
“If Holly was your friend her body language here would prompt you to ask ‘Are you ok?’ but given the bizarre use of that question in her speech yesterday it’s a phrase that would only really reek of sarcasm today.”
‘Prim and tense’
The body language expert described Holly as appearing ‘prim and tense’, as she continued: “Sitting beside Josie as the show began, Holly looked prim and tense.
“Her buttoned-up floral dress looked like a statement of mild disapproval and, with her upper arms pressed against her torso in a self-hug, her hands were balled into loose fists on the table in front of her.”
‘Mouth shrugs’
Judi also noticed Holly perform a head toss and ‘mouth shrugs’, as she then added: “Holly performed a head toss as though trying to shrug the murky past off and get on with the show and her eyes widened in an attempted reboot of her normal perkiness, but her fingers were fiddling gently on the table and her smiles converted to mouth shrugs as she turned back and forth slightly in her chair.
“There was no natural synchronicity between Holly and Josie’s body language.
“They lacked any sign of tie-sign communication and they seemed to have individual reactions to items.”
‘Hints of anxiety’
Not only this, but Judi claimed that Holly’s actions displayed ‘hints of anxiety’, as she noticed: “Josie seemed to be over-compensating for Hollie’s hints of anxiety but her overkill laughter at some guy shouting from Blackpool made it look as though she was trying to copy Alison’s iconic and contagious laugh, while Holly barely raised a chuckle in empathy.
“There was one moment where they fell into body language formation with twinned smiles and a head tilt but so far we’re not being shown any authentic signs of non-verbal bonding or natural, un-scripted timing.”
‘Fluffing scripts’
Finally, Judi spotted signs that Holly may still be struggling as she fluffed her words and darted her eyes to the side.
Jui continued: “During the first interview on the couch there were more signs that Holly might still be suffering behind the professional mask.
“She micro-fluffed a few words, which is out of character, and we saw her eyes dart to the side a couple of times, which again is not normally her style.”
It comes after Holly took a week off when Phillip initially announced he was leaving the hit daytime programme, before then jetting to a £8 million holiday villa in Portugal with her sister, parents, and family for another week.
Later this week, Holly will be joined by Irish presenter Craig Doyle, while Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary will be back for their usual slot on Friday.
Phillip told The Sun in an exclusive interview that Holly did not know about his affair.
He said: “I’ve lost my best friend. Holly did not know. And she was one of the first texts that I sent to say ‘I am so, so sorry, that I lied to you.’”
The former TV star’s statement, where he apologised for lying about the “unwise, but not illegal” affair, came after reports of a growing rift between Holly and himself.
Holly has not commented since taking to social media last weekend to reveal Phillip had lied to her about his affair.
She wrote last Saturday: “It’s taken time to process yesterday’s news.
“When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not.
“It’s been very hurtful to now find out this was a lie.”
HOLLY WILLOUGHBY'S SPEECH AFTER PHILLIP SCHOFIELD'S EXIT FROM THIS MORNING
“Josie, thank you for being here.
“Right, deep breath.
“Firstly, are you OK? I hope so. It feels very strange indeed not being here with Phillip.
“I imagine you might have been feeling a lot like I have. Shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the well-being of people from all sides of what’s been going on and full of quesitons.
“You me and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth, who they themselves felt they had to resign from ITV and step down from a career that they loved.
“That’s a lot to process and it’s equally hard to see the toll it’s taken on their own mental health.
“I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal and the health and well-being for everyone.
“I hope as we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, then we can find strength in each other.
“From my heart thank you for all of the kind messages. Thank you for being here this morning.”
A TV source said the host personally prepared the opening monologue because she wants to tell viewers how difficult it has been for everyone behind the scenes on the show.
One person who won’t be watching is Phillip, 61, with sources telling us he is simply too devastated to tune in.
Friends of the former This Morning presenter said that despite his support and affection for Holly, “He physically could not watch.
“Even listening to the opening credits would be hugely triggering.
“His family is being incredibly careful not to have the TV on when he’s in the room to ensure he doesn’t see anything.
“Of course he is aware Holly is back on air today and he absolutely wanted her to shine, and smash it.
“But he physically could not watch — he is not there yet.”
Colleagues are said to be sympathetic towards Holly and will try to make her return to work as smooth as possible.
Holly is now said to be thinking about the future of This Morning — and is keen to move into a new era for the flagship daytime show.
Holly joined This Morning as Phillip’s co-presenter in 2009 when Fern Britton, 65, left the show.
Phil lobbied ITV bosses to bring her on board following their success presenting Dancing On Ice which began three years earlier.
Holly and Phillip earned 12 National Television Awards between them.