Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield to star in This Morning's Christmas pantomime
This Morning's Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield have announced that the show will be throwing its very own special pantomime this year – which they will be starring in.
Holly will be fulfilling her Christmas wish by starring as Cinderella, while Phil will take on the role of her best friend Buttons. Friday hosts Eamon Holmes and Ruth Langsford will star as Mr and Mrs Santa Claus, while Alison Hammond will play the Fairy godmother.
Special guest stars will include Joanna Lumley – as a wicked stepmother – Sheridan Smith as Peter Pan, and Christoper Biggins as Dame Sarah the Cook.
In case you hadn't guessed already by the list of eclectic characters, the panto 'mash-up' will be based on multiple classic tales, and will begin with an opening number from Britain’s Got Talent winner Jon Courtenay.
Meanwhile, other guest stars include Matthew Wright as Captain Hook, Lisa Snowdon as Tinkerbell, Alice Beer as Goldilocks, and Deidre Sanders and Vanessa Feltz as two villainous stepsisters, who are determined to ruin everything and destroy the fun. As in life, it will be down to Alison to save the day and restore laughter and cheer to our lives as the nation's fairy godmother.
In a bid to show support for the performing arts, which has been severely hit by the pandemic, Joanna Lumley said: "All of us who appear in front of the audience are painfully aware of the desperate situation of everyone who makes shows and plays happen: the chorus and crowd artists and dancers... and then backstage, choreographers and chorus masters, props and costumes and dressers, and writers… the list goes on and on.
"To be able to help them in any small way is a privilege and a pleasure; and I am thrilled that we shall be paying tribute to them in this sensational one-off pantomime. They don’t get any of the financial help that is being dished out across the country; so we must do our very best for them now when they need us most."
Sheridan added: "The whole theatre and creative industries have been devastated by the virus and lockdown. Hopefully doing this Panto with This Morning will provide some of these people much needed work and give everyone some hope and laughter for better times to come."
Holly and Phil previously announced that they would be bringing Christmas cheer to viewers in the form of a panto, which will feature a few special guests, back on the show in September.
"2020 hasn't been the year we all hoped it would be. Amongst the many things that have been cancelled it looks like there won’t be many pantomimes this Christmas," Holly said.
It's the announcement you've all been waiting for... Oh yes it is!#ThisMorning presents #TheNationsPanto, Friday 11th December! 🎄 pic.twitter.com/n0CaDf3R7h
— This Morning (@thismorning) September 28, 2020
"Well, we couldn’t let that happen so today we can reveal, can I have a drum roll please? That this Christmas we are throwing a This Morning pantomime," Phil confirmed.
Alison Hammond cheekily called out: "Oh no you're not!" to which Holly replied: "Oh yes we are! On Friday 11th December we'll be opening the curtains and bringing you some Christmas cheer as me, Phil and our entire This Morning family put on our fancy dress for our very own Christmas pantomime."
Phil added that he and Holly knew nothing of the panto plans until they came in this morning, before Holly revealed that starring in a panto has been a lifelong dream of hers – and she'd want to play Cinderella, naturally.
"I've got to do it soon, because I'm getting too old to be Cinderella. I’m already too old to be Cinderella," she told Phil.
"No, you're never too old to be Cinderella. We're going to have loads of special guests popping in as well," Phil disclosed.
One of those special guests is Christopher Biggins, who had his panto cancelled this year due to Covid. He playfully suggested that Phil and Holly could play the ugly sisters.
Speaking about all of the cancelled pantos this year, he added: "It's very, very sad and I feel sorry for the young kids who won’t be working, but we must try and give as much pleasure as we can in these terrible times, and so I think this is a great idea that we do this pantomime.
"Just have fun and enjoy yourselves, it's a grand time of year for pantomime."
Holly asked Biggins: "Do I need to be able to sing?"
To which he joked: "No darling, no. Very few people sing. Look at Elaine Page, she doesn’t sing."
This Morning’s Panto will air Friday 11th December from 10am on ITV.
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