From crystal healing to Pilates, the Dancing on Ice presenter enjoys a varied approach to health and fitness

Dancing on Ice returns to our screens on Sunday, with a star-studded lineup set to wow judges and audience alike as contestants twirl, somersault and glide across the rink. But the show wouldn’t be complete without host Holly Willoughby, who brings her trademark warmth and light-hearted charm to the ITV show. Here’re just a few of the former This Morning presenter’s health and wellbeing secrets.

Holly Willoughby//Instagram

She doesn’t focus too much on her appearance

Holly Willoughby//Instagram

‘[While] I’m quite active, I try not to let the way I look be the main focus because it’s not the most important thing,’ Holly said to RSVP Live.

‘Everybody knows what leads to a healthy lifestyle, but it’s not up to me to give you a blow-by-blow account of what I’ve eaten that day. It’s not helpful, and it’s not what’s important’, she said to The Sun.

‘I actually avoid talking about my diet and exercise regime because I have interviewed so many people affected by eating disorders and I know that some people in chat rooms can really fixate on other people’s diets,’ Hello noted her saying to Prima in 2017.

‘As long as I’m healthy, that’s good enough for me.’

She believes in crystal healing

Holly indulges in the more alternative side of wellness and is a massive proponent of the rejuvenating power of crystals. Her lifestyle brand WYLDE MOON features an entire section, WYLDE Crystals, dedicated to using crystal energy to target specific goals and purposes, ranging from healing to ‘manifesting positivity and determination’ and even ‘cleansing your aura’.

‘Take your crystal of choice in the left hand, and rest both palms on your knees, face up, open to receiving’, reads the entry on using crystals to tap into your intuition.

‘As you do so, allow yourself to travel into the intuitive heart centre. Sink back as you tune in.’

In 2021, she shared on social that she was ‘clarifying a crystal with a very important job to do today… ✨’

Holly Willoughby//Instagram

She uses white sage

Holly posted an Instagram video of herself burning white sage in October 2020.

‘Morning rituals… #whitesage for purification not inhalation before you ask,’ she captioned the post. Burning white sage has long been ceremonially and medicinally important to Native American tribes in the States and Mexico. The plant, which is used in sacred acts such as during prayer, is typically found and harvested in California.

‘I like to burn Sage or Palo Santo to energetically cleanse the vibrations around me, and wave the smoke around the room and over my #crystals to enhance the energy in the room,’ she said on WYLDE MOON.

She’s got a ‘tried-and-tested’ morning routine

Holly’s hectic schedule doesn’t leave much time to get ready in the morning, so she’s whittled it down just to the essential habits.

‘It’s a tried-and-tested mix of cold showers to refresh my skin, face masks, a good cuppa tea, candles, some meditation and some basic “wake-up” makeup magic for my eyes,’ she captioned an Instagram video in 2023, confirming that she gets up at 6am, which apparently ‘isn’t as bad as most people think’.

She makes time for a moment of calm

Holly Willoughby//Instagram

Before she gets picked up, she carves out a few minutes of stillness to get herself ready for the day. She makes herself a cup of tea, browses the headlines, and then, ‘I light a candle, sit there and do my 20 minutes of meditation’.

She takes care of her skin

‘I’ve perfected my wake-up/makeup routine over the years to refresh my face, body (and mind) ahead of going LIVE to the nation most mornings,’ she continued on Instagram.

‘I’m on my 6th tube of @beautypie Oxygen Instant Facial Re-fuelling Mask,’ she confessed. ‘I want to get as much moisture and hydration in my skin as possible’, she explained, praising the product for being full of ‘vitamin A [AKA retinol] and salicylic acid’, which is ‘very purifying’ – ‘You can feel your skin coming alive’.

She brightens under-eye darkness with Beauty Pie’s Superluminous Under Eye Genius corrector, reminding viewers: ‘Don’t forget your SPF’!

She enjoys Pilates

According to RSVP Live, she took up Pilates in 2012 after the birth of her daughter, Belle.

Lynne Robinson, director of Body Control Pilates, shared: ‘I worked with Holly for several months, teaching her privately at her home once a week.

‘Holly had postnatal mat work classes which concentrated on strengthening and [building] her core.’

Elaborating to Hello, she revealed: ‘With Holly, we always made sure we had a bit of a giggle as well’, and that her she practices poses like the inverted butterfly position, which reportedly boosts circulation.

Boxing and kickboxing are also go-to workouts

Former Celebrity Juice co-star, Keith Lemon supposedly heard that Holly’s fitness routine involves ‘some sort of boxing’, and another source told the Daily Mail that these ‘300-calories in 30 minutes’ sessions comprise shadow boxing, skipping and hitting pads – though Holly has not confirmed this herself.

The discipline builds stamina and core strength, providing a full-body workout.

The Sun shared that sources have revealed: ‘Holly loves kickboxing and even has a kickboxing bag in her spare room, so she can work out at home.’