Holly Willoughby and Declan Donnelly
TV

I’m A Celebrity fans wish Holly Willoughby was returning for new series

She stepped into Ant McPartlin's hosting shoes last year.

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The return of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! may be just over a week away, but some fans are already disappointed with the host line-up.

Ant McPartlin is set to return to hosting with Declan Donnelly, but some viewers are wishing his former stand-in, Holly Willoughby, was the one returning.

I'm A Celebrity - Holly Willoughby
Holly hosted in 2018 (Credit: ITV)

Several fans have voiced their disappointment that This Morning’s Holly won’t be reprising her role of I’m a Celeb host this year on Twitter.

Read more: Adele Roberts rumoured for I’m a Celebrity line-up 2019

One disgruntled viewer wrote: “#ImACeleb bring back @hollywills she was the best thing to happen to the show!”

Another tweeted: “#ImACeleb 2019 – Sorry that @hollywills isn’t joining @antanddec without Ant. Really enjoy Dec and Holly’s twosome last year.”

Another account even hosted a poll to see whether viewers would like Holly to return, and others shared similar sentiments on the social media platform.

Holly stepped in Ant’s hosting shoes on last years I’m a Celeb, following his retreat from the spotlight.

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Ant was charged and fined for drink-driving in 2018, following which he took almost a year off from his television duties.

Taking a break from her This Morning role, Holly flew to Australia to host alongside Dec.

Although Holly faced some criticism for her hosting role at first – as many viewers missed the usual Ant and Dec dynamic – her hosting gig overall was deemed a thorough success by many.

And the series was also a huge ratings success, even exceeding the previous year’s figures.

The average episode of 2018’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! averaged 12.6 million viewers, which was 1.8 million more viewers than the opening episode of the 2017 series.

Despite Holly’s tremendous success on the show, she is not expected to return to this year’s series.

Dec and Holly on I'm a Celeb
Holly filled in for Ant (Credit: ITV)

A trailer for the new series showed that Ant will be back with Dec for their usual jungle antics.

The official celebrity line-up has yet to be confirmed. However, rumoured contestants include Ian Wright, Caitlyn Jenner and Good Morning Britain‘s Kate Garraway.

– I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! returns to ITV on Sunday November 17 at 9pm

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