Dermot O'Leary's sweet tribute to 'lovely mate' Holly Willoughby

20 June 2023 , 04:04

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The pair have been co-hosting This Morning together over the past weeks (Image: Dermot O'Leary/Instagram)

Dermot O’Leary has left a tribute to his This Morning co-star, Holy Willoughby, describing her as his ‘lovely mate’.

The presenter, 50, is currently taking over hosting duties on the ITV show as bosses search for a replacement for Holly’s former co-host, Phillip Schofield.

Taking to Instagram, Dermot uploaded a sweet snap of himself with Holly, penning a nice tribute to the star in the caption.

He wrote: “Back on This Morning for another week with my lovely mate Holly.”

In the picture, Dermot could be seen beaming up at the camera wearing a dark polo shirt, his arm around Holly, who wore a multi-coloured spotty dress with frilled sleeves.

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Dermot's fans have been happy to see him on the show (ITV)

While fans were happy to see Dermot on the show, some were not as pleased that Holly was still fronting the series.

One wrote: “Time for Holly to go. Has shown her true colours. Hopefully Dermot is permanent.”

Another typed: “Hopefully they keep you on the show Dermy, but Holly needs to go, her time is up.”

A third commented: “Don’t let @hollywilloughby drag your reputation down. You are so good and it should be you and Alison hosting if it stays on air (which is debatable).”

Fans of Dermot wanted him to host the show with Alison Hammond (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

A fourth chimed: “I by far prefer you and Alison together. Natural and funny.”

Dermot and Holly have enjoyed a long-term working relationship, both working on This Morning together on and off over the years, alongside other ITV shows.

The programme's Instagram account shared a picture of Holly and Dermot on This Morning a decade ago, in 2013, alongside a recent one.

This Morning shared a snap of the pair on the show, alongside a picture from a decade ago (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

The images were captioned: "It’s been almost 10 years since they first presented #ThisMorning together, but @hollywilloughby and @dermotoleary have barely aged a day!"

Sophie Liard, known as The Folding Lady joked: “Can we have a skincare with Dermot segment please”, while another user commented: “Dermot doesn’t look any different”, and a third wrote: “I still can’t believe he is 50!!”.

Sophie Goodall