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Holly Willoughby marks 11 years on 'This Morning' alongside Phillip Schofield with throwback pic

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, accepting the Live Magazine Show award for "This Morning", pose in the winners room at the National Television Awards 2020 at The O2 Arena on January 28, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield at the National Television Awards 2020. (Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Holly Willoughby has commemorated the 11th anniversary of her first This Morning appearance with a throwback of herself and co-star Phillip Schofield.

In the photo, a younger Willoughby can be seen grasping on to Schofield's arm on the show's set back in 2009.

"11 years ago today... and I’ve never let go! @thismorning @schofe thank you for having me...," the 39-year-old captioned the Instagram post.

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Willoughby landed the gig upon Schofield's recommendation as the pair had already worked together for a number of years on Dancing On Ice.

He previously told The Sun: "We had such fun on DOI that when the position became vacant on This Morning I said, ‘Holly is the only person I want. If I can’t have her I am not playing’."

This Morning also marked the anniversary on its official Instagram feed.

The pair returned to present the programme two weeks ago after taking time off for a summer break.

Due to social distancing rules, the co-presenters and friends are still keeping apart from each other on set. However, they were able to embrace in front of viewers with help from a "cuddle curtain" – a plastic sheet with arm holes that helped avoid any direct contact.

The mother-of-three took over from Fern Britton on the ITV fixture after the former left the programme following 10 years as a full-time host and seven years a main presenter.

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield are seen presenting 'This Morning' on September 29, 2009 in London, England. (Photo by LucasMepham/FilmMagic)
Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield filming This Morning in 2009. (LucasMepham/FilmMagic)

This Morning celebrated its 30th anniversary back in 2018 and was given a special Bafta ceremony to mark the special occasion. However, there was mild controversy when Britton alleged in an appearance on This Morning that she had not been invited to the ceremony.

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“Congrats on the Bafta,” she said. "That was absolutely wonderful and brilliant. I would have loved to have been there but I didn’t get an invitation.”

Schofield insisted she had been with it later coming to light that Britton's representatives had in fact received the invite but declined on her behalf as they believed she was occupied with other work.