Holly Willoughby reveals ‘most embarrassing’ live TV wardrobe disaster
The former This Morning presenter has revisited an awkward moment from her children’s television days while swapping embarrassing stories with Emma Bunton and Nicole Appleton.
Holly Willoughby suffered a wardrobe malfunction left her accidentally exposed while presenting live children’s television – before discovering the mishap had been seen by viewers.
The 45-year-old presenter has revealed she was hosting ITV’s Saturday morning show Ministry of Mayhem with Stephen Mulhern when a strap on her camisole broke during a live segment involving boyband Blue.
Holly revisited the incident during the latest episode of her new YouTube series Holly Willoughby Together, where she was joined by Spice Girls star Emma Bunton and All Saints singer Nicole Appleton.
Holly said the incident happened during a sketch in which members of Blue had been hypnotised and instructed to copy her dance moves.
She joked: “As far as I’m concerned, they were definitely hypnotised.”
Getting up to demonstrate what happened, Holly said: “I stood up and I was really like going for it and as I looked down, the strap on my top had broken, and my left boob was swinging!
“But we were still live and I knew it happened. We had an ad break and I came off air and I was like, ‘Tell me you didn’t see that!’ And they were like, ‘We can’t. We’re not going to lie to you. We did see it’.
“And then The Sun put me on Page 3 the next day. So I’ve been a Page 3 girl with my boob out.”
Holly previously discussed the same incident in an interview with the Daily Mirror in 2012 and revealed it had changed how she approached her wardrobe for live television.
She said: “That was probably my most embarrassing moment on TV.
“But I learnt a very valuable lesson, which was to always wear a sturdy bra. There could be an earthquake and I’d be the only person still in their dress!”
Holly presented Ministry of Mayhem, later renamed Holly and Stephen’s Saturday Showdown, before becoming one of ITV’s most prominent presenters.
She went on to host Dancing on Ice and spent 14 years presenting This Morning, eventually leaving the daytime programme in October 2023. Dancing on Ice was subsequently rested by ITV in 2025.
Holly has now returned with Holly Willoughby Together, which launched on YouTube on July 28 and features celebrity conversations, cooking, fashion, beauty, health and lifestyle segments.
Guests have included Stanley Tucci, Katherine Ryan and Joanne McNally, as well as Emma and Nicole.
The digital series has marked a change of direction for Holly following her years on mainstream television, with the presenter adopting a more informal style.
She recently said she welcomed both positive and negative responses to the new project as she worked on developing its format.
During Emma and Nicole’s appearance, the conversation also produced another piece of television and pop memorabilia when Emma brought along the dress she wore to the 1997 BRIT Awards.
Emma said: “I brought something for you. This is the original BRIT dress. Look at that, it’s the tiniest thing and it’s see-through. That’s the original, I found it.”
Holly replied: “I’ve got knickers bigger than this! This is history. Do you not keep this somewhere very safe? I feel like I should have gloves on.”
Emma, who became internationally famous as Baby Spice alongside Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm, revealed she keeps her Spice Girls outfits together at her London home.
She said: “I do remember once, you (Holly) came to my house and we were outside in the garden and you said, ‘What’s up there?’ And I said, ‘Oh actually, I’m about to store everything, all my Spice stuff’.’
“And she went, ‘Can I go up there and try things on?!’
“And I was like ‘No, not today’. Only because we were a little bit tipsy as well otherwise I might have let you in.”
The Spice Girls famously performed Wannabe and Who Do You Think You Are at the 1997 BRIT Awards, where Geri wore the Union Flag minidress that became one of the group’s most famous outfits.
