SHE’S one of the most recognisable faces on TV – while he is a power player behind the scenes.
But it wasn’t love at first sight for presenter Holly Willoughby, 43, and her production boss husband Dan Baldwin, 49.
The couple, who have been married for 17 years, met on the set of kids TV show Ministry of Mayhem in 2004, which Holly co-hosted with Stephen Mulhern.
Dan worked on the show as a producer, and Holly admitted she “didn’t fancy him at all” at first.
“I didn’t even think about it,” she told the Daily Mail in 2015. But within six months they found themselves “in each other’s pockets constantly” and romantic feelings developed.
“I remember this one night we were in the bar and I cheers-ed Dan and I remember my eye just caught his a little bit longer than it should have done, and I looked at him and thought, ‘Oh my God, I fancy Dan Baldwin,’ and it took me by complete surprise,” Holly said.
“The rest is history, and we got together pretty quickly after that.
“Looking back on it now, I think what I was thinking was intense friendship was probably me falling in love, and I think that’s a really good basis for romance, because we have that friendship still now.”
They began dating, but kept their romance a secret for eight months because they “didn’t want to give anyone a reason to be annoyed with us”.
“I knew he was ‘The One’ pretty quickly,” Holly admitted.
Surprise proposal
By 2006, Holly and Dan had moved into their first London home – and on day one, Dan popped the question.
It took Holly by surprise, as she was in the bath at the time.
She recalled: “I know a lot of people almost have to force their boyfriend to propose, but with Dan it was such a shock.
“I knew I’d be with him for the rest of my life, if he’d have me, but nothing can ever prepare you for what it’s like when someone asks you.
“I can’t think of any other big decision you make in your life that quickly.”
They tied the knot on August 4, 2007 at St Michael’s Church, followed by a reception at the 900-year-old Amberley Castle on the South Downs in West Sussex.
Underneath her traditional wedding dress, Holly revealed she had a sexy secret for her new husband.
“My amazing dressmaker had a vintage pattern for a bunny girl outfit,” she said.
“She adapted a 1960s original bunny girl corset by cutting the back so low, it didn’t show.
“She even made me a fluffy tail – but I’m not sure that ever saw the light of day!”
Saucy games
Holly admitted her one regret from their wedding day was choosing to wear towering stilettos – which she ended up ditching and going barefoot.
These days Holly has a tried and trusted method of breaking in new footwear.
She told the Daily Star in 2009: “I love wearing new shoes during sex ‒ and not just because it’s kinky.
“I’m not a foot fetishist or anything, and I do enjoy saucy games with my hubby, but I have found the best way to break in new shoes is to wear them during sex.
“It’s become a sort of rule whenever I get a new pair of shoes. I always wear them in the bedroom ‒ during the sex act ‒ before I take them outside.
“Every girl loves a new pair of six-inch heels, and I’m no different.”
And the kinky games don’t stop there; Holly’s favourite way to surprise her hubby is to head out in just a coat.
“For a hot date night, I’d wear a coat with nothing on underneath,” she previously admitted.
“I also like the sexy secretary look.”
Admittedly date nights probably became less regular when Holly and Dan became parents to Harry, now 14, Belle, 12, and eight-year-old Chester.
More recently Holly made a cheeky confession on This Morning, admitting her standard outfit for bed these days is a big T-shirt and “no pants”.
Strong friendship
Holly says a strong friendship and mutual respect underpins her and Dan’s marriage, adding: “We’re very honest with each other, we listen to each other.
“I love him and he loves me. We respect each other and we probably drive each other round the twist. But we give each other space for that as well.”
Speaking to Red Magazine, she said Dan is her biggest supporter and can always tell when something is wrong.
“He’s very solid ground; he is where I fall. And he knows when something is wrong – it makes me feel emotional even thinking about it,” she said.
“But of course, he has weaknesses; we both do. The key is holding up each other’s strengths and not poking at each other’s weaknesses.
“There are little moments that I really cherish when he tells me he’s proud of me and vice versa.”
Holly has admitted in her Wylde Moon blog posts that the “glue which binds us together” is that they always “carve out real time for each other”.
For her, that covers everything from family dinners at home to heading out just the two of them.
She wrote: “It’s so easy to live under the same roof and experience the same life, but in parallel lanes rather than together.
“Sometimes you forget to look up and really see each other. ‘Oh there you are… there you actually are’.
“If you continue to put as much energy into your marriage as you do all the other relationships you have in life, you’ll not go far wrong.”
And it doesn’t hurt that they “fancy the pants off each other”.
While Holly has said she’ll always be “absolutely OK” if her career were to end tomorrow, if her marriage collapsed, it would be “the end of my world”.
