‘I’ve struggled with dyslexia since I was young and
it used to hold me back. At school, reading out loud
absolutely terrified me because I’d get all the words
wrong and I was convinced everybody thought
I was stupid. It still happens now – most of the
mistakes I make on This Morning are because of it,
but it doesn’t do what it did to me back then because
I don’t let it have power. I now know that it’s all
about how you package it in your head. It’s not that
I’ve suddenly become a better reader – I’ve simply
let go of the panic of getting things wrong because it
doesn’t matter. There are people on Instagram now
who will say, “You’ve written ‘there’ instead of
‘their,’”– and I think, “Well, who cares? Not me!”’‘When you’re happy with where you’re at and who
you’re with, you want to stay there, and so I hope
I remain very grounded. I’ve had these incredible
pinch-me moments, like when I’ve been up on stage
winning a BAFTA for I’m A Celebrity! – I definitely
didn’t feel very grounded then – but that’s not my
everyday life. That’s more like mucking in with the‘Support is everything in mine and Dan’s
relationship. He’s very solid ground; he is where
I fall. And he knows when something is wrong – it
makes me feel emotional even thinking about it. But
of course he has weaknesses; we both do. The key
is holding up each other’s strengths and not poking
at each other’s weaknesses. There are little moments
that I really cherish when he tells me he’s proud of
me and vice versa. He runs a media company and
they had to furlough staff recently, but I’m incredibly
proud of the way he works and that people want to
come back and work for him. He can wind you up
to the point where you just want to scream, but he has
a really good moral fibre that runs through him. In
many ways, I think he’s a bit better than me like that!’Amplify your
partner’s
strengths (not
their weaknesses)Seek out the things
that ground youBe at peace with
your mistakesfamily duties and making a birthday cake for Belle;
her saying, “Oh, I want a sloth birthday cake,
Mummy” and me saying, “Well, I’m not going
to be able to make that darling, am I? Are you
sure you don’t want a Victoria sponge?”
It’s also dyeing my own hair, which I’ve been doing
for years, even though nobody’s ever believed me!
It’s funny because I’ve sort of turned my back on
anything high maintenance in recent years. I used
to have extensions to thicken my hair up and
I always wore false eyelashes, but I don’t do any of
that now. It just doesn’t seem to matter anymore.’Clockwise from bottom
left: with mum Linda;
cooking up a storm
with Belle; Holly’s M&S
edit sells out almost
instantly; sharing her
effortless holiday chic
PHOTO
GRAPHY:^ @HOLLYWILLO
UGHBY