Holly Willoughby soaks up the sun in swimsuit and hotpants after she flees UK amid Phillip Schofield affair scandal
HOLLY Willoughby has been spotted soaking up the sun in Portugal.
The This Morning presenter has escaped the UK with her family in the wake of the Phillip Schofield scandal for a sunshine break in the Algarve.
Pictured alongside her sister and three children, Holly wore a black swimsuit and denim hotpants as she carried a bodyboard to the beach.
The TV presenter has broken cover for her beach holiday. It comes after her statement revealing former co-star and best friend Phillip “lied to her” about his affair with a much younger co-star.
In a statement, 42-year-old Holly said last week: "It's taken time to process yesterday's news.
"When reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not.
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"It's been very hurtful to now find out that this was a lie."
Phillip - who presented This Morning alongside Holly for 14 years before their feud - apologised for lying in a statement last week - but didn’t mention Holly by name.
"I did have a consensual on-off relationship with a younger male colleague,” he said.
"Contrary to speculation, whilst I met the man when he was a teenager and was asked to help him to get into television, it was only after he started to work on the show that it became more than just a friendship.
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"That relationship was unwise, but not illegal. It is now over. When I chose to come out I did so entirely for my own wellbeing. Nobody 'forced' me out.
"In an effort to protect my ex-colleague I haven't been truthful about the relationship.
"But my recent, unrelated, departure from This Morning fuelled speculation and raised questions which have been impacting him, so for his sake it is important for me to be honest now.
"I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family.
"I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife.
"I have therefore decided to step down from the British Soap Awards, my last public commitment, and am resigning from ITV with immediate effect expressing my immense gratitude to them for all the amazing opportunities that they have given me.
"I will reflect on my very bad judgement in both participating in the relationship and then lying about it.
"To protect his privacy, I am not naming this individual and my deepest wish is that both he and his family can now move on with their lives free from further intrusion.”
The Sun revealed earlier today that Holly had fled the country to stay in her £8m holiday home in Portugal while on a break from This Morning.
Last night, Holly could be seen dining outside under a canopy-style roof at the restaurant with her parents, sister Kelly, and three children, at around 8pm.
Holly wore a hat and sunglasses to keep a low profile and avoid being spotted by fans abroad.
She had her youngest son Chester, eight, on her lap, as she ordered a drink from the waiter and tucked into some dessert.
It was the first time Holly has been spotted since making her public statement about Phil.
An onlooker said: "Holly is clearly trying to stay under the radar - they were dining when the sun was going down, and she was still wearing her hat and sunglasses.
"The area is a holiday hotspot for Brits, so she is probably worried about being asked about the This Morning scandal.
"At one point, Holly spoke at length to a waiter who it seemed like she knew personally.
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"She seemed to be having a great time - unlike her old pal Phillip."
Holly's husband Dan Baldwin, 48, was not with them at the meal, nor was her eldest child.
