Holly Willoughby: who is This Morning TV presenter's husband? Plus couple's three children explained

TV personality Holly Willoughby has been hosting ITV daytime show This Morning since 2009, but regular viewers will know that she usually only presents from Monday to Thursday and also takes a break during school holidays to enjoy time with her husband and children. 

The week beginning 22 May is one of those weeks, with ITV confirming that she would take an early half term break just days after her former co-host Phillip Schofield stepped down from his role with the show amid weeks of rumours that the relationship between the duo has broken down. The supposed feud had allegedly led Willoughby to consider quitting This Morning herself.

Willoughby, aged 42, has a career in the entertainment industry spanning more than two decades, starting as a teen model for magazines such as Mizz in the late 1990s, before becoming a children’s TV presenter in the early 2000s, and then moving on to front some of ITV’s biggest primetime shows including Dancing on Ice (2006 to present) and This Morning (2009 to present).

But, just who is Willoughby’s husband and who are the couple’s children. Here’s what you need to know.

Who is Holly Willoughby’s husband?

Holly Willoughby is married to Dan Baldwin, age 48, who is a TV producer. He has worked on various shows with Holly including ITV2’s Celebrity Juice. Baldwin also launched his own independent media company in 2014 named Hungry Bear. He works as a development executive for Talkback Thames alongside his own company.

According to the Hungry Bear website, Baldwin “has a wife, three children, two cats and co-owns a production company. He hasn’t got much time for anything else”. The website also reveals that he started his career as a researcher for BBC children’s program Live & Kicking.

Since then his highlights have included becoming a Series Producer at the BBC aged 26 and becoming Head Of Programmes and Production at MTV at the age of 29. He has also won a BAFTA, two NTA’s, two RTS awards and led Talkback to the ‘Indie Of The Year’ award in 2012. 

How did Holly Willoughby and Dan Baldwin meet?

The couple first met in 2004 when they were both working on ITV children's show Ministry of Mayhem. The duo have always kept their relationship mostly private and are rarely photographed together, and also do not usually speak about each other publicly. Back in January, however, Willoughby revealed details of how their romance first began in an Instagram video, as reported by the Daily Mail.

She said: “We met while I was doing Saturday morning kids' telly and he was the producer and I was the presenter. I'd already been there around eight months I think, and then he came in as our new producer and we started this real intense friendship - it was mad actually. 

“And this must have been six months of real intense friendship and I remember this one night we were in the bar. 'I cheers'd Dan, and I remember my eye just caught him for a little bit longer than it should have done, and I looked at him, and thought oh my god, I fancy Dan Baldwin. And it took me by complete surprise, and then the rest is history.”

She added: “Looking back on it now I think what I was thinking was an intense friendship was probably me falling in love.”

How long have Holly Willoughby and Dan Baldwin been married?

The pair will mark their 16th wedding anniversary this year, having tied the knot in 2007. Baldwin proposed to Willoughby the year before on the day they moved into their first London home together, while she was enjoying a soak in the bath. She has said previously that his proposal took her by surprise. "I know a lot of people almost have to force their boyfriend to propose but with Dan it was such a shock," she told The Mirror back in 2007. She added: “I knew I'd be with him for the rest of my life, if he'd have me, but nothing can ever prepare you for what it's like when someone asks you. I can't think of any other big decision you make in your life that quickly.”

The couple wed on 4 August 2007 at St Michael's Church before hosting their wedding reception at Amberley Castle, on the South Downs in West Sussex. Willoughby has shared a few photos of her wedding day on her Instagram page over the past few years.

Who are Holly Willoughby and Dan Baldwin’s children?

Willoughby and Baldwin share three children together; Harry James Baldwin, age 14, Belle Baldwin, 12, and Chester William Baldwin, 8. Willoughby does share updates about family life on his Instagram page, and that includes sharing photos of her children at times but their faces are never visible in the images.

Speaking on This Morning in 2021, Holly explained her decision regarding pictures: "I choose not to show my children's faces because I know that's the deal. If you show one photograph, then they're out there. They're for consumption for everybody, which is why I choose not to do it,” as reported by Hello Magazine. That same year, Willoughby said that “being a mum is my greatest achievement and yet still my biggest daily challenge to get right” in an Instagram video to promote Mother’s Day. The family still live in Barnes, London, together.