Holly Willoughby's brutal leaving message from ITV's Keith Lemon after abrupt exit

Holly Willoughby (Image: Getty)

Leigh Francis, who is appearing on James Martin's Saturday Morning on November 2, recently shared details of a hilarious exchange he had with longtime friend and ITV colleague Holly Willoughby.

Better known as his alter ego Keith Lemon, the 51-year-old comedian and Holly have formed a close bond over the years after working together on Celebrity Juice, where Leigh also met fellow co-star and friend Fearne Cotton.

Their friendship has continued both on and off the set. During an episode of the Olivia Attwood podcast, So Wrong It’s Right, Leigh recalled a particularly cheeky moment with Holly after they attended a festival together.

He shared: “Me and Holly went to, remember V Festival in Chelmsford? ... And because she's Holly, she can get things for free, and she got an RV… She got one of those for free if she did a post. And we all stayed in this RV, and we were f**king drunk out of our minds.

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Leigh Francis and Holly Willoughby are close (Image: Getty)

“I remember I left early, I was with Jade Jones, Emma Bunton's husband, and we left before [Holly and the rest of the group]. And we left a message on the floor made out of bread. And it said, ‘See you later, you c***s.’ In bread. We got drunk out of our minds.”

Last year, the TV host revealed he hadn’t seen Holly in months following the controversy surrounding This Morning.

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Holly, who started her career in children’s television, left the ITV show after a turbulent period that included a plot to kidnap her and the fallout from her co-star Phillip Schofield’s “unwise but not illegal” affair, which he had kept secret from her. The scandal ultimately led to Schofield’s departure from the show.

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In September last year, Leigh shared that it had been five months since he last saw Holly. The two used to see each other weekly when she was a panellist on Celebrity Juice, which concluded in 2022.

"The last time I saw Holly was on my birthday. I haven’t seen her since all the telly drama," he told the MailOnline. "April was the last time I saw her in real life."

He added: "Throughout all the telly drama, I just text people and go, 'Are you ok?'. I reached out to everyone." On why he thought Holly decided to stay on the show after the scandal, he joked: "They pay well, don’t they?

"I’m guessing she still enjoys it, so I think you should leave a show when you don’t enjoy it anymore."