SHE described herself as a ‘booth girl’ whose job it was to answer calls from viewers on daytime television.
But little-known Channel 5 starlet Storm Huntley is being announced as Holly Willoughby’s replacement on This Morning.
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Storm is tipped to be Holly Willoughby’s replacement on This Morning in a major shakeupCredit: instagram/stormhuntley
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She is known for her appearance on Jeremy Vine’s show Credits: Channel 5
Bookies have given her 2-1 odds to take over Holly in a move that could lead to the show’s first all-female presenting team with Alison Hammond.
If she gets the gig, Storm, 36, will leapfrog bigger names such as Josie Gibson, Rochelle Humes and Kate Lawler – after starting her career answering the phones on Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff in 2015.
Matthew Wright’s long-running program was taken over by Jeremy Vine, with Storm getting her own hour-long slot this year.
In the biggest hint yet that Storm is in the running for This Morning, Jeremy wrote on X: “Note to self: straight Monday morning, beg @StormHuntley to stay.”
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Storm may not be as recognizable as other This Morning hosts, but she and Holly share a lot in common.
Both are bubbly, down-to-earth moms who once entertained on children’s shows and have husbands who are also in show business.
Holly’s other half Dan Baldwin TV is a producer, while Storm’s partner Kerr Okan is the frontman of Scottish band The LaFontaines.
While Holly regularly hangs out with other celebrities, Storm is friends with a very famous A lister.
She and Batman star Robert Pattinson have been friends since they met at school, and Jeremy Vine posted a picture of the pair together in 2018.
Demonstrated skills
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The presenter always wears long sleeves after suffering third degree burns in a horrific childhood accidentCredit: Andy Buchanan
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She gave birth to her first child in 2022 with musician husband Kerr Okan Credit: INSTAGRAM
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede said Storm would be an unusual choice for the magazine’s morning show, but said she had proven her mettle on live television.
He said: “Storm has built quite a loyal fan base.
“Being a woman who answers phone calls, she’s earned her awards when it comes to broadcasting, doing hundreds of hours of live TV shows.
“One of the most important things for a This Morning presenter is the ability to switch from serious items to fun and trivia or even a segment about Christmas presents, and Storm has shown she can handle most situations.
“It would be quite a left wing decision by ITV because we don’t know much about Storm. We don’t buy into her fashion or lifestyle or see her as a brand ambassador, but she’s very reliable and has shown she can host herself.”
Holly, 42, quit earlier this month after 14 years on This Morning after a year of hell.
In a shocking statement, the mother of three said she made the decision for herself and her family.
It follows months of trouble for the star after she and Philip Schofield were condemned for skipping the queue to visit Her Majesty last year before he quit this May over an affair with a young employee.
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Storm is close friends with Hollywood actor Robert Pattinson Credit: Twitter
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Storm shared this throwback photo of her friend last yearCredit: Twitter
A poisoned chalice?
Stormi’s sassy, chatty style is no different from Holly, but PR expert Mark Borkowski said whoever gets the job faces some tough comparisons.
He said: “On one level it’s a great opportunity for the right person, but at the same time, it’s a poisoned chalice because there will be comparisons and contrasts with Holly.
“Nobody can blame Holly for leaving when you think about what she’s been through.
“It’s a very, very difficult job and ITV will be looking very carefully at who they choose. This could be one of the many examples of people throwing names in the ring to see how the public and media will react.
“The future of This Morning will depend on who the new presenters are. When Angus Deayton lost his job on Have I Got News For You? some people said it was the death of the show, but now it has guest hosts and is still going all these years later.
“This Morning has a great magazine format and is indelibly linked to the center of the center of morning television.”
William Hill says Storm is 2-1 to land one of TV’s biggest jobs, with Alison Hammond at even money, Josie Gibson at 4-1 and Rochelle at 7-1.
Spokesman Lee Phelps said: “There is certainly a betting storm brewing with Storm a significant market mover in recent days.”
The beginning of TV for children
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She started her career as a children’s TV presenter on CBeebiesCredit: Instagram
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Telly presenter Carol Smillie officiated at her 2021 wedding
Like Holly, who first shot to fame on CITV’s Ministry of Madness, Storm rose to fame on children’s television, presenting the seasonal CBeebies show Down on the Farm.
Storm and her family lived both in Bishopbriggs, on the outskirts of Glasgow, and in London, where she went to high school with Twilight star Robert Pattinson.
She said: “Rob and I were good friends throughout high school, got on really well and started school at the same time – he was a year above me – in London.
“Rob’s dad said that on our first day I was supposedly walking around the parking lot balancing on a curb. Since I didn’t have any friends to talk to, he stopped and said to Rob, ‘Oh, there’s a friend for you.’
As a child, Storm suffered first and second degree burns after pulling a kettle on herself. She was left with scars on her arm and torso and usually wears long sleeves.
Storm found work as a researcher for BBC Scotland before taking a short course in meteorology to present the weather forecast.
She got her first UK job when she moved to London and introduced callers to host Matthew Wright, then Jeremy Vine.
She got extended time on the show before finally getting her own segment earlier this year, writing on Instagram: “Good things come to those who wait… From ‘Babe in the Booth’ to host 8 years later.”
In October 2020, Huntley announced her engagement to Kerr Okan, lead singer of the rock group The LaFontaines.
The couple tied the knot in September 2021 on the shores of Loch Lomond in Scotland – and the ceremony was officiated by fellow TV presenter Carol Smillie, who left TV to become matron of honor.
Storm said: “[Carol] is a friend of our friend and we didn’t know that she does humanist ceremonies, so it was by chance. So Carole came and married us.”
Not long after, they announced that Storm was pregnant with a hilarious Instagram post showing a pastry in the oven.
After her marriage, she told viewers that she would drop her last name and just use Storm.
She got her name because she was born during a heavy storm and her mom was reading a book at the time called Sparrow Falls in which the main character was called Storm.
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She secured an hour on the Jeremy Vine show with her skillsCredit: instagram/stormhuntley
She said she considered different careers before coming to TV.
She said: “I went from one extreme to the other. I thought ‘Oh, I’m going to be a doctor’ if I watch ER, ‘I’m going to be a lawyer’ if I watch Ally McBeal and then, ‘I think I’m going to be an architect.’
“I jumped and ended up studying economics at the University of Glasgow, which was what my dad was doing too. I started at Subcity Radio and decided that a career in the media was what I was looking for.
“I helped set up a radio station in London, because my parents live part-time down there, and I ended up staying there to do a postgraduate course in broadcast journalism. I was ping-ponged about my career, it wasn’t linear at all. There is no master plan.”
She may not have had a plan, but things seem to have worked out well for Storm.
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