Holly Willoughby will replace Ant McPartlin on ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’
The ‘This Morning’ presenter will co-host the ITV show alongside Declan Donnelly following Ant’s decision to take the rest of the year off from TV commitments, after he spent time in rehab and was fined £86,000 for drink-driving earlier this year.
A source told the Daily Mirror: "Holly is 100 per cent confirmed to be going into the Jungle this year as Ant’s stand-in.
"It’s been in the works for weeks as ITV were really keen on getting her in.
"They’ve taken their time announcing it as they wanted to be sure Holly could fit it in with her family and other work commitments."
Holly, 37, is a close pal of Ant and Dec, both 42, and Donnelly is believed to have suggested her to ITV chiefs to replace Ant.
The insider explained: "Dec first brought up Holly last year, after Ant went into rehab the first time.
"Dec would have had a say in it because the most important aspect of the show is the chemistry between the hosts.
"Ant and Dec have this natural back-and-forth and bosses didn’t want to just replicate that.
"They wanted someone who could bring their own energy to the screen."
This comes after Kevin Lygo, head of studios at ITV, revealed Ant is "doing really well" on the road to recovery.
He said: "The good news is that he’s doing really well, he’s doing everything he should be doing to get better.
"We collectively thought, let’s give it a good amount of time off, this is a slow procedure, that’s what we’ve decided to do."
Holly Willoughby ‘100 per cent confirmed’ to replace Ant McPartlin on I’m A Celeb
