Holly Willoughby ‘forced smile’ and her Phillip statement ‘wasn’t genuine’ | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV
A body language expert has claimed Holly Willoughby “forced a polite smile” when giving an emotional statement about Phillip Schofield.
Holly opened This Morning by sharing her thoughts on Phillip’s departure from the show and his affair with a younger colleague.
However, speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, body language expert Adrianne Carter believes Holly was “well prepared.
She said: “The deep breath in is a sign of nerves and her breath seems high in her chest as she delivers all of it, again a sign of nervousness.
“It’s an obviously well-prepared and practiced delivery with a half-polite smile rather than a genuine smile.”
The expert continued: “The initial smile at the beginning was very much a forced polite smile rather than a pleasure smile.
“We see a very slight squinting of the eyes at about 14 seconds on this clip – this is normally associated with annoyance and frustration feelings…
“As she carries on we see a few long slow eye closes (much slower than blinks), people do this when they want to block something out that they’re not enjoying.”
Body language expert Darren Stanton also shared his thoughts, claiming Holly’s “words weren’t genuine”.
Speaking on behalf of Slingo, he said: “I didn’t feel the connection with Holly during her statement and it didn’t seem genuine. There was an area of disingenuousness with her.
“She definitely needed to address it, but I could feel that she wanted to say a lot more. I’m not quite sure if she meant every word.
“She did look upset, but that could be for a number of reasons. It’s probably down to the whole situation.”
Darren went on to suggest Holly’s tear were due to the pressure rather than the situation itself.
At the beginning of Monday’s This Morning, Holly, who was joined by Josie Gibson told viewers: “It feels very strange indeed sitting here without Phil, and I imagine that you might have been feeling a lot like I have, shaken troubled, let down, worried for the well-being of people on all sides of what’s been going on, and full of questions.
“You, me, and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth, who acted in a way that they themselves felt they had to resign from ITV or stepped down from a career that they loved.
“It’s a lot to process and it’s equally hard to see the toll that it’s taken on their own mental health.”
She continued: “I think what unites us all now is the desire to heal for the health and well-being everyone.
“I hope that as we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us. We can find strength in each other.”
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.
