This Morning fans think Holly Willoughby is back as ‘lookalike’ hosts

What did you miss?

This Morning viewers thought Holly Willoughby had returned to the ITV sofa as lookalike Mollie King had a guest hosting slot.

Willoughby stepped down from the programme in October after close to 14 years, and since then there has been a rotation of guest hosts filling in. Monday’s instalment (5 February) saw Saturdays star King presenting with Dermot O’Leary – and fans could not get over how similar she looked to Willoughby.

Some posted messages on X saying they did a double take after they saw her in the studio.

What, how, and why?

When the show started, the pair announced that King was filling in for O’Leary’s usual co-host Alison Hammond, who was off celebrating her 49th birthday. O’Leary explained that Hammond was enjoying her day off with her son Aiden, and King said how good it was to be back after previously guest hosting a few weeks ago.

However, her arrival left viewers doing a double take, with some mistakenly thinking Willoughby had returned.

“Omgg why did I think Molly was Holly?” one person posted on X, adding the hashtag “clone”. “They couldn’t have got more of a Holly lookalike if they tried,” said someone else.

Another viewer posted: “Double take, thought Holly was back for a mo!” “I see that This Morning have brought in Holly 2.0 - Mollie King, as most people would call her,” remarked another fan.

Somebody else said: "Holy f*** is that Holly Willoughby on This Morning..?" They added: "Why has her voice changed... am I imagining that?"

What else did viewers say?

Willoughby left This Morning after a man was charged in relation to an alleged plot to kidnap and murder her. Her departure came just a few months after her co-host Phillip Schofield stepped down amid a scandal that saw him admitting to having an “unwise but not illegal” affair with an ITV colleague.

Lots of guest hosts have been filling in, with the likes of Sian Welby and Emma Willis doing stints on the daytime show. But some viewers have admitted they are getting fed up of all the change.

“The constant rotation of presenters is now annoying,” one said on X after King joined O’Leary. If it's Monday it must be... If it's Tuesday it must be... and on and on. How many more???”

“Let’s play…….. who’s hosting This Morning today shall we??” quipped someone else.

However, the rotation could be coming to an end, with unconfirmed reports that Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard are set to be announced as the permanent replacements for Willoughby and Schofield. The pair both impressed as guest hosts and the Mirror has said they have been picked as the new members of the show.

Read more: Holly Willoughby

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• Holly Willoughby quits This Morning following alleged kidnap plot

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Watch: The editor of 'This Morning' found out Holly Willoughby was quitting just 20 minutes before she announced the news on Instagram