Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield reunited by a birthday rose
THIS Morning star Holly Willoughby joked that it ‘killed her’ to see co-host Phillip Schofield presenting without her and admitted she needs flowers to be ‘Holly-proof’ as she unveiled a rose at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show today.
Holly made the comments after Phillip presented the Royal Wedding at the weekend with Julie Etchingham — Phillip for his part, said it felt like ‘having an affair’.
But the pair seemed have forgiven one another today as they revealed the distinctive pink bloom — with dainty flowers and a deep eye centre — at the annual celebration of all things floral.
The flower was selected and named after the daytime show to marks its 30th birthday.
Admitting she’s not very green-fingered, Holly said: ‘It’s a very beautiful rose. It’s pink, which we like; it smells, which we really like. It’s probably one of the few roses I will be able to take home and keep alive because it sounds like it’s Holly-proof.
‘I’m not very good in the garden,’ she admitted, before drawing a comparison between the flower and the show: ‘A bit like This Morning, having something like this that you can just look and it’s a little bit of beauty in your life, and will make you smile everyday, hopefully that is what This Morning does.’
Phillip — who recently said it ‘wouldn’t feel right’ to present This Morning with anyone other than Holly — said: ‘It’s a fabulous honour to have a rose named after the programme.
‘It’s been running for 30 years — I think I’ve been there for 16 – so it started in 1988 and so what’s lovely about this rose is it’s just like This Morning, I think the two of them are indestructible.’
The flower show’s press preview day kicked off with rapper Professor Green opening the RHS Feel Good Garden, which promotes gardening for health, happiness and well-being.
Green — real name Stephen Manderson — who has suffered his own share of mental health issues, said: ‘I know only too well how hard and hopeless it can feel when you suffer from anxiety and depression.
‘I’m opening this garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show because if being out in a garden helps people feel better or takes their mind off their worries, then that has to be a good thing.’
After the flower show, the therapeutic garden — designed by gardener Matt Keightley — will live on at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, which Professor Green described as a ‘great project’.
He added: ‘I love my own garden and the more time people spend close to nature, away from phones and general pressure of life, the better we’ll all feel.’
Author: Anna Thomson
