'Are you ok?' One star reviews as critics turn on Holly Willoughby's 'cringe' show
'It makes Meghan Markle's show look good,' say reviewers as Stanley Tucci 'cannot save' first episode
The first episode of Holly Willoughby's TV comeback has been met with reviews ranging from "a marginally less agonising With Love, Meghan," to "an empty gush fest".
The first episode of YouTube lifestyle series Together, which sees the former This Morning presenter chat with celebrity guests in a kitchen, has been savaged by critics over a flurry of one-star reviews.
Billed as "a new lifestyle series built around real people, real stories, honest conversation, practical advice, celebrity guests, fashion, beauty, health and more," it marks Willoughby's return to everyday presenting, after her most recent appearance on Netflix's Celebrity Bear Hunt last year.
The 45-year-old was joined by actor Stanley Tucci for the premiere, which was uploaded on Tuesday, July 28, but even he was not enough to save the 50-minute ordeal, according to reviewers.
Here is a round-up of what they said.
Holly Willoughby's Together review round-up
Carol Midgley in The Times gave Together a two-star review, saying that despite the star credentials, "Willoughby fell into the trap that so many female TV presenters do [and] gushed too much".
"I think it will have to become edgier than this to make its mark in a very crowded field," she wrote.
The online format has at least allowed Willoughby to swear, something she does within seconds of the episode beginning, but after years of the squeaky-clean This Morning, it felt jarring to The Metro's Sabrina Barr.
"I cringed so hard I felt like I was going to shrivel up into a tiny prune," she said in her review. "Let me make this clear – I admire Holly as a presenter. It’s no mystery why she’s been a mainstay on our screens for two decades.
"I watched the first episode of Holly’s new project, and it was fine. As I said earlier, I cringed at the forced swear words and clearly orchestrated innuendos – such as a phallic joke about a courgette – and I didn’t find it engaging."
She added that she felt the greater problem is the number of reviewers who have compared it to Meghan Markle's "With Love, Meghan", another lifestyle show on Netflix.
The Guardian's Stuart Heritage was one of those to do so. "Holly Willoughby Together (With Voy, don’t forget) is extremely With Love, Meghan in tone and presentation," he wrote. "It is a heavily manicured cookery show, presented by a woman who seems as if she needs quite a lot of help in the kitchen."
His three stars were kinder than most afforded, and he said that it was better than With Love, Meghan for being without the "control freakery" of the Duchess of Sussex.
Anita Singh, in the Telegraph, felt the opposite and that it "makes Meghan look good".
"Not even Stanley Tucci can redeem this 50-minute borefest of awkward small talk, forced swearing and pie tin trivia," she wrote in her one-star review.
Other guests on the first episode were pop singers Nicole Appleton and Emma Bunton, while comediennes Katherine Ryan and Joanne McNally were also on hand.
The familiar cast of characters and "too long" run-time were a turn-off for The Sun's Rod McPhee.
He wrote: "The beauty of Holly 1.0 was that she felt relatable. Watching Together, it is clear she still has that girl-next-door charm. But these days, Holly 2.0 ain’t living next door to any of us plebs."