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Holly Willoughby is a woman looking for a fresh start. His stint on This Morning came to a screeching halt, with his response to Phillip Schofield’s frenzy – the famous “Are you okay? The next attempt to restart his career, like his brief stint hosting Bear Grylls’ reality show, stalled. So now it’s down to this: Holly Willoughby Together (And Voy).
Your response to this will vary depending on how you feel. The best suggestion would be to say that Willoughby has turned to YouTube, seeing that television is dead and that’s where all eyes are these days. It’s a cooking and lifestyle show that allows him to be himself without the distraction of managers who have spent years trying to force him into action.
Then there’s the less-than-stellar way, which I’m saying Willoughby has done for Meghan.
This, unfortunately, is true. Holly Willoughby Together (With Voy, don’t forget) is a winner It’s Love, Meghan in tone and presentation. It’s a very well-organized cooking show, hosted by a woman who looks like she needs a lot of help in the kitchen, which is more of a referendum on the host than a traditional show. However, let’s face it, it’s much better than that, because Willoughby lacks the self-control that made With Love, Meghan such a boring watch. Maybe it would be best to call this a Saturday Kitchen rip-off and be done with it.
From what I can tell, every episode of Holly Willoughby Together (With Voy) will see Willoughby – and, by association, Voy’s health company – cooking a meal in her monochromatically pastel kitchen with a guest. The guest for the first episode is Stanley Tucci, who has as safe a hand as you’d expect. It’s chat. He can cook. She and Willoughby are old friends, because apparently she made him a bottle of toffee vodka in her dishwasher once. They make courgette pasta, and it’s as impressively boring as ever.
Which is good, because none of this is about him. Much of this is evident with the format of the show, which sees him reading his interview questions with mugs (“Milk or bag first?” “What kind of potato do you like?”), instead, it all comes across as an aggressive test if Willoughby is allowed to be famous again.
The show’s weakest elements are where this shines most. Before Tucci joins him in the kitchen, we see him working with a group of co-workers, who swear a little and talk about wine. These messages seem to indicate that this is the case reality Willoughby, not like that lying automaton who fooled enough people into liking her to become the highest paid woman on British television between 2018 and 2021.
Once this is lit, however, we are left with reality The real Willoughby, who is the same woman who gave this Morning. The best moment comes when he stops trying to violently reform and just lets himself be quick, funny and impressively nervous about his new job. His appearances as the real him, like when he arouses the interest of Tucci and the microwavable Rustlers, have power and charm in equal measure. If this can be continued in the coming episodes, the audience will find him natural.
The plan seems to be keeping Holly Willoughby Together (And Voy) going as long as possible, while this is only starting to become what it wants to be as the episodes progress. Let’s cross our fingers that it wants to be 15 minutes shorter than it is now, because a lot can be cut from its running time of 45 minutes. For example, there is a continuous part near the beginning where Willoughby carefully cuts four courgettes with the attention of a man who wants to detonate a nuclear bomb. It is not necessary to watch.
But you can’t help but start the show. Yes, the look can be a little safe and temporary, but given other options – a reality show, a health podcast, a mocker. As Always-the selling point of life – there is still fun to be had in watching someone continue to do what they naturally do best (with or without Voy).
