HOLLY Willoughby has opened up on her ‘incredibly shy’ days at school, after breaking the silence on a tumultuous 18 months. Speaking for the first time about leaving This Morning, the presenter, 43, revealed it was “an easy decision”. Not only did Holly get candid on her ‘tough’ year, but she also discussed her childhood days and forcing herself to ‘break fears’.
![[Holly Willoughby wearing a crescent moon necklace.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/holly-willoughby-summer-dreaming-723196895.jpg?strip=all&w=768)
Opening up to The Sunday Times Style Magazine, the mum-of-three, who was born in Brighton and went to a private school, explained: “I was incredibly shy at school.”. The blonde beauty got candid on her early modelling days - which saw her on the cover of Just Seventeen, the holy grail of Nineties’ teen modelling gigs.
![[Young Holly Willoughby and her sister in school uniforms.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/holly-willoughby-school-throwback-758246701.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
She confessed: “When I started modelling, going on castings, I remember walking into a room, waiting to go in, and there were a load of girls - you’d see the same faces all the time - and they’d be chatting and having a laugh. I felt very much like, God, I’m not like that.”.
![[Holly Willoughby drying her hair.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/holly-willoughby-breaks-silence-phillip-822137064.jpg?strip=all&w=768)
But she was eager to fit in and work on her confidence, as she admitted: “I remember thinking, you’ve got to really learn quickly. I had to force myself to break through that fear.”. And although Holly “didn’t feel” like the ‘prettiest girl in town’, she explained: “I don’t think image was as huge a thing then as it is now. I’m glad I grew up at a time when social media wasn’t there and you weren’t looking at yourself all the time. It wasn’t really a thing.”.
![[Holly Willoughby at the Better Man premiere.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/holly-willoughby-attends-better-man-952638948.jpg?strip=all&w=666)
Not only did Holly, who previously opened up on hiding behind her fringe whilst at school, share an insight into her life growing up, but she also opened up on stepping down from presenting work entirely after discovering a plot to kidnap and murder her.
![[Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/holly-willoughby-phillip-schofield-this-868625599.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
