EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Mystery as Holly Willoughby’s friend and trusted ally quits from her key role in her firms

Mischievous observers are asking whether she’ll soon be heading to Rome – and nipping ahead of the tens of thousands waiting to pay their respects to Pope Francis. 

But Holly Willoughby – bitterly accused of jumping the 13-hour queue at Westminster Hall when Queen Elizabeth lay in state – is unlikely to be distracted.

Indeed, there is plenty to keep her attention unwaveringly focused on matters at home – most notably developments at two of her companies, Wylde Moon, the fledgling lifestyle brand she set up in 2021, and Roxy Management, her talent agency. 

I can disclose that both must now soldier on without Vicky Staines, who had become one of Holly’s closest and most trusted allies.

Staines, 39, has ceased her role at Wylde Moon, of which she was described as finance director, and where her co-directors were Holly, 44, and Holly’s older sister, Kelly Foster, 46.

Staines has also departed from Roxy Management – ‘resigned’ as a director, according to documents filed at Companies House – of which she and Holly had been the sole board members since it was established in 2020.

Staines doesn’t respond to my request for comment. The consequent sense of mystery is fuelled by Holly’s representatives who also feel unable to issue a statement about Staines, who has certainly been a cherished member of Holly’s inner circle.

Holly Willoughby attending  The Prince’s Trust and TKMaxx & Homesense Awards 2023 at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on May 16,2023

Stephen Mulhern and Holly Willoughby hosting Dancing on Ice TV show on March 2, 2025

A snap posted by Holly’s sister Kelly – who playfully styles herself ‘Lady Willoughby’ on her social media account – shows Staines standing snugly between Holly and Kelly. ‘When we come together we really can make dreams come true,’ Kelly captioned the image, before adding a couple of emojis and the pay-off: ‘Love you beyond.’

Holly, of course, is fully aware of the capriciousness of fortune. Scouted by a modelling agency when just 14, she secured her first TV role by the time she was 19, with a stint as a lingerie model for Pretty Polly in between. She subsequently met Dan Baldwin, the man who would become her husband, while presenting children’s programme Ministry of Mayhem, which Dan produced.

Last week, a High Court ruling gave the couple until July 9 to pay £377,000 in taxes owed by another of their companies, Roxy Media, of which they are the only two directors.

This follows my disclosure in January that HMRC had issued a winding up petition against Roxy Media, which, according to previous accounts, owed more than £300,000 in unpaid corporation tax.

At the time a financial expert told me that the looming legal battle might well have been caused by differing interpretations of Holly’s tax status.

‘It’s possible that her Good Morning salary was paid into the company as freelance income,’ explained the expert, ‘whereas the tax office may consider that she was employed by ITV and that the income should have been taxed on a PAYE basis.’

Arguments of that sort may be less frequent for Holly in the future. Last month ITV announced that it was ‘resting’ Dancing On Ice, of which Holly first became a co-presenter way back in 2006. Proof that the axe sometimes falls on even the most graceful of necks…