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‘I want to be an untamed woman’: Holly Willoughby opens up about finding her voice

Photo credit: Lia Toby - Getty Images
Photo credit: Lia Toby - Getty Images

Holly Willoughby has spoken out about her long struggle in finding her confidence and how she now wants to be “an untamed woman”.

The This Morning star opened up about developing her resilience and accepting that not everyone will like her in a frank new interview with Grazia magazine.

The mum-of-three, who published self-help book Reflections in 2021 alongside launching her own lifestyle brand Wylde Moon, spoke of the pride she felt in her personal evolution.

“Growing up, there is no way that I would’ve thought I would be using my voice in any way,” she admitted.

“Because I just didn’t as a kid. I wasn’t confident enough. You know, it took a really long time to build up my confidence and resilience,” she said, “and get to the point where the stuff in this book had to come out and I wasn’t afraid of what people might think of it.”

Holly went on to speak about the meaning behind the name of her lifestyle brand Wylde Moon: “It’s an old word for wild that usually meant ‘untamed’ and was usually used about women,” she explained.

“I was like, good! I want to be an untamed woman. Because if anyone’s going to tame me that means I’ve fitted into the parameters that somebody else has created. I thought that version of ‘wylde’ is exactly what I want to be."

The author also pushed back against the concept of ‘having it all’ that many women face and the pressures to be a perfect mother, wife and career woman.

“All of that ‘perfection’ was fine if that’s what you want but it had to have a bit more stability underneath,” she says.

“If you focus on all of that stuff then it won’t feel completely whole unless you yourself feel in a good place and space. Get that bit right and all the other stuff falls into place.”

The presenter is currently on a break from This Morning while she films Superstar Survival with Wim ‘Iceman’ Hof and comedian Lee Mack for the BBC.

The in-demand star is also undertaking presenting duties for this year’s Dancing on Ice.

Holly was also quick to dismiss rumours of a feud between her and her This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield.

“What I don’t understand is, I’ve been at This Morning for 12, 13 years it will be this year," she said. "And it is a gruelling show. It’s the best show but it is two-and-a-half hours of live telly.

“If you were to do that amount of live telly with someone who drove you nuts, wound you up, annoyed you in any way, well, I think you can only do that with a friend, day in, day out.”

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