Inside Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern's 20-year relationship including viral kiss
14.01.2024 - 12:51
/ ok.co.uk
A new era of Dancing On Ice is set to begin this weekend as Holly Willoughby returns to presenting duties, this time joined by Stephen Mulhern. Holly, 42, had previously hosted the ITV show with Phillip Schofield, who stepped down from his ITV duties last year due to an "unwise but not illegal" affair with a younger male colleague.
In turn, last month it was revealed that Stephen, 46, would be filling Phillip’s shoes on the ice. However, this isn’t the first time that the pair have worked together - something which ITV referenced when they unveiled the new presenting duo.
Announcing the news, Katie Rawcliffe, Head of Entertainment Commissioning at ITV, said: “Holly and Stephen are two of our best loved presenters, so reuniting them twenty years after they first appeared on screen together to host Dancing on Ice marks the start of an exciting year for the show.” With a two-decade long working relationship, Holly and Stephen first presented together in January 2004 when they worked on Ministry Of Mayhem - also known as Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown. During their time on the show, the duo took part in different comedy skits, including one particular sketch which saw Stephen kiss the former This Morning presenter on the lips five times.
As part of the act, Holly received a festive hat which had mistletoe hanging from the front, leading her to state that could now “kiss all the boys in the world all the time”. In response, the Catchphrase host quickly went in for the kiss, though Holly told him that “you don't count”.
Despite the rejection, Stephen explained that “whoever you're underneath the mistletoe with, you must kiss,” before kissing Holly again. Eventually the skit saw Holly take her hat off and exclaim that
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