This Mornings Holly Willoughby and Alison Hammond show united front before NTAs

Holly Willoughby and Alison Hammond have shown a united front in their return to This Morning following their summer break.

Their return to the small screen comes ahead of the National Television Awards (NTAs) on Tuesday, which will see This Morning stars Hammond and Martin Lewis up for the best TV presenter prize.

Willoughby had been longlisted for the award but was snubbed of the final shortlist alongside her former This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield in the wake of his resignation from ITV in May, after admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” relationship with a younger male colleague on the show.

The NTAs will also see This Morning attempt to defend its title of best daytime show amid the furore of the Schofield affair and claims of toxicity and bullying behind the scenes of the show.

On Monday, Willoughby and Hammond returned to the ITV show, opening the programme from outside the TV studio alongside the cast of Mamma Mia! The Party.

The stage performers entertained with a medley of Abba classic songs, including Dancing Queen, SOS and title track Mamma Mia, while This Morning stars including Gyles Brandreth, James Martin and Alice Beer danced in the crowd.

TV star Willoughby said: “It is such a good way to start the show.

“Now, we are back from our summer break but it’s not just the start of the new season for our show, for many people out there today is the first day of school.”

Speaking about her own children’s return to school, she added: “All good, except we all opened the window today and went ‘Oh summer decided to arrive today’.”

The 42-year-old, who described the show as starting “with a bang”, went on to introduce viewers to what will air on the show during autumn, including celebrity chef John Torode in Western Australia swimming with wildlife and Dr Scott Miller in the Arctic searching for animal life.

Among the segments will also be Gok Wan with his glam van, Phil Vickery fishing and cooking with his daughter Winnie, and Josie Gibson at a worm-charming championship to celebrate Bristol’s 650th birthday.

This Morning’s Hammond and Lewis will compete against The Traitors host Claudia Winkleman, The Chase’s Bradley Walsh, as well as Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly in the TV presenter category at the NTAs on Tuesday.

Comedian and TV presenter Joel Dommett will return for the third year as host of the NTAs, which will be broadcast live on Tuesday September 5 from 8pm on ITV1.

Published: 04/09/2023 by Radio NewsHub