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Holly Willoughby has decided not to attend the Pride of Britain awards on Sunday night due to an alleged kidnap plot.
The TV presenter usually joins the star-studded guest list at the annual awards ceremony, which recognizes and honour members of the public for acts of courage in difficult circumstances.
It has already been confirmed that Holly will not appear on This Morning on Monday as she struggles to deal with the terror of an alleged plot to kidnap and murder her.
The presenter, who is being guarded by police and a security team from ITV, has decided to take time off and is likely to be replaced by Alison Hammond or Josie Gibson.
This Morning insiders say that Ms. Willoughby, 42, will not return to the programme until after the half-term break because she had a scheduled holiday then, as she does every year.
The distraught star’s decision came after emotional conversations with senior ITV executives on Friday.
They are now in the process of preparing Monday’s episode of the daytime show with a stand-in host.
Ms. Willoughby is unlikely to appear on the programme until the end of October at the earliest. ITV bosses are yet to decide how the programme will cover the incident.
One source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘As the days go by, something like this doesn’t get any easier for Holly but it is difficult to think about any kind of work right now, let alone when your job is to present a live television show.
‘She needs to be around her nearest and dearest and take the right advice from the right people, too.
‘The This Morning presenters have been in touch with her and they will juggle covering her role for as long as is needed.’
Ms. Willoughby did not appear on the programme on Thursday as she had learned of Gavin Plumb’s alleged plot to commit kidnap and murder her only the night before.