Holly Willoughby Together gets off to slow start
Just 15,000 viewers have watched Holly Willoughby's online debut in 8 hours
Holly Willoughby Together was meant to be her big and bold comeback - but only 15,000 viewers have been recorded in the 8 hours since it launched and critics have slated it.
Fans tuning in expecting a This Morning-style programme have been left disappointed, as the former itv presenter spents some 50 minutes making small talk with actor Stanley Tucci whilst he cooks a pasta dish in the kitchen.
The premise of the Together strand is Holly will drop two episodes a week under different themes - such as Cook Together and Hang Out together.
But the dissected version of a lifestyle show has led viewers and critics to label it “boring” and “drawn out”.
The 15,000 views will be disappointing for the former You Bet! host, who plugged it to millions of listeners of The Sara Cox Show on BBC Radio 2 this morning.
Those who have watched it have slammed it for “forced innuendo”, “unncessary swearing” and for feeling “cliquey”.
It means Holly has a long way to go to win over the millions of viewers she needs to justify its high production costs. It’s been produced by her husband Dan Baldwin, the man behind Hungry Bear Media who also produce big tv hits like Michael McIntyre’s Big Show. But critics have rated it just one star and labelled it as being worse than Meghan Markle’s lifestyle series.
For those of you who are not from the UK, Holly Willoughby is the British version of Oprah, a house-hold, daytime name who was once adored by millions before a fall-from-grace saw her exit Britain’s biggest commercial network.
Perhaps the problem is expecting viewers to simply forget all that and buy in to the new pastel kitchen, or to go back 10 years and see Holly for the wholesome and mumsy figure she spent years portraying. Or perhaps 50 entire minutes of Holly in a fake kitchen making chit chat over pasta simply isn’t good enough to win over online viewers.
Let’s see what Thursday brings. Until then, check out today’s episode and make up your own mind…
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