Sky News faces backlash after reporting Holly Willoughby’s This Morning exit from war zone

Sky News has been criticised by viewers for reporting the breaking news of Holly Willoughby's exit from ITV's This Morning live from a war zone, where they'd been covering the Israel-Hamas conflict.

After presenting the daytime programme for 14 years, the 42-year-old posted a statement on her social media where announced she would not be returning to the show.

Sky News presenter Mark Austin has been reporting live on the ground in Jerusalem about the Israel-Hamas conflict when coverage suddenly changed to the news on Willoughby leaving.

“Let’s get some news away from here now,” Austin said, from on a hillside at night time with the landscape of the country's capital in the background.

“Presenter Holly Willoughby has told ITV that she will not return to host This Morning."

He added: “She has not returned to the show since a man was charged last week with an alleged plot to kidnap and murder her.”

Then Sky News studio correspondent Shamaan Freeman-Powell also added more details to the coverage surrounding the TV presenter's departure.

After this, viewers took to social media to criticise the broadcaster's choice of announcing this showbiz news from a war zone, calling it a "parody," "tasteless," and "utterly bizarre."

In her farewell statement to the Willoughby wrote: "To everyone who has ever worked on the show over the years, thank you so so much. This is such a difficult goodbye, you are incredible and I forever will be proud of what we’ve done together. Thank you to everyone at ITV for being supportive. To every guest who has sat on our sofa, thank you."

"Most of all, thank you to the wonderful viewers. You’ve been so loyal, so supportive and the very best company every day.

"Richard and Judy said ‘we only look after this show, it will always belong to the viewers’.

"It’s been an honour to just be part of its story and I know this story has many chapters left to go... I will miss you all so much."

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