The 42-year-old married mum-of-three last night remained under high-level security protection at her luxury London home after shopping centre security guard Gavin Plumb, 36, appeared in court charged with masterminding the murderous plot.
Officers arrested the 35 stone “loner” on Wednesday evening after uncovering “sinister messages” in a dark web chat room pertaining to the This Morning presenter.
Bosses at the ITV show were alerted to the alleged “highly credible” plot minutes before the show was due to go on air on Thursday morning leading to the presenter being pulled off screen. She was replaced on the show by Josie Gibson and Alison Hammond.
Hours earlier Holly had celebrated her TV producer husband Daniel Baldwin’s 49th birthday with their children, Harry, 14, Belle, 12, and eight-year-old Chester, but friends said she has been left “shocked and distraught” by the case.
The broadcaster is now providing round-the-clock private security and counselling support for Holly and her family, alongside specialist police teams.
Yesterday a whole host of top show business names privately messaged the shell-shocked former model to express their love and support at her terrifying ordeal.
Messages are understood to have come from a whole host of big names including Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, Bradley Walsh, Fearne Cotton, Emma Bunton and Nicole Appleton and followed a huge show of on screen support from fellow ITV stars.
An ITV source told the Daily Express: “Holly has got lots of friends in the business and they have all been sending her messages to show their love and support. Being in the public eye may seem glamorous but this sort of thing is every star’s worst nightmare.”
Lorraine Kelly addressed the case on yesterday’s episode of her programme Lorraine, saying it was “very, very upsetting”.
She added: “Of course we are sending Holly all of our love and best wishes, that is a terrible thing to be having to go through for her and her family.”
Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond, who co-hosted Friday’s This Morning, sent Holly “our love and biggest hugs”.
Dermot said: “We’re not going to talk much about it but we have to start with the story of one of our own”, with Alison adding: “We are obviously all shocked to hear the news and we want to send our love and biggest hugs to Holly and her family.”
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also addressed the case as he appeared on This Morning on Friday, saying: “Before we get going, I’m so sorry to hear everything going on with Holly.
“I just wanted to send my best to her and her family, and to all of you.”
Essex Police superintendent Tim Tubbs said: “This was an extremely fast paced investigation, with many of our officers and national partners working overnight to secure these charges.
“The safeguarding of any victim is paramount and we will continue to prioritise this and working with the Metropolitan police service as the investigation proceeds.”
Plumb, an unmarried father of two teenage girls – aged 14 and 15 – and who has also worked as a supermarket trolley man, is charged with soliciting a man to commit murder, and incitement to commit kidnap between October 2 and 5 in Harlow, Essex.
The charges indicate the defendant is accused of planning to assemble a “kidnap and restraint kit” and encouraging the third party hitman to travel to the UK to kidnap and kill Holly.
Plumb yesterday appeared in the dock at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court sporting a green T-shirt with the slogan “Aged to Perfection”, where he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth, address and where he worked.
Evelyn Hicks, defending Plumb, applied for bail but the application was refused and Plumb was remanded into custody by District Judge Caroline Jackson until a plea hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on November 3.
Plumb has faced a lengthy struggle with his weight and was featured in a BBC documentary about weight loss in 2018. He worked at Pizza Hut for a year but was unable to leave his flat due to his size.
However, neighbours said yesterday that he has recently started getting out more and even taking driving lessons after having a gastric band fitted and turning to a liquid diet. He worked as a security guard at Pinnacles Shopping Complex in his hometown.
The incident comes after a turbulent year for the star, who has presented This Morning since 2009.
Last September, she and then co-host Phillip Schofield were accused of skipping the queue to pay their respects to the late Queen.
She later issued a statement explaining she had been there as an accredited broadcaster for a filmed segment.
This May, Schofield, 61, resigned after he admitted an affair with a younger male colleague.
The married dad of two also revealed he had lied about it when confronted by Holly. She later told viewers she had felt “shaken and let down”.
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