Inside Holly Willoughby’s £12m empire and how her little known sister Kelly has helped her forge it like other A-listers
MOVE over the Momager – siblings have become the new movers and shakers in the careers of many A-list celebrities.
Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner has been the mastermind behind the success of her famous daughters, but now the clan might have to step aside and make way for the Willoughby sisters.
Holly’s lesser-known big sister Kelly runs her popular wellness brand Wylde Moon and is likely to have been a key confidante as the Dancing On Ice presenter enters a new phase of her career.
She has signed a deal to host new Netflix jungle competition show Bear Hunt With Bear Grylls, and is rumoured to want to crack the States.
The pair were pictured enjoying lunch with Frank and Christine Lampard over the weekend after months of Holly keeping a low profile.
In October, the TV host ended her 14-year run on This Morning after a man was charged over an alleged kidnap plot.
Five months earlier, her former co-host and best pal Phillip Schofield, 61, quit the ITV daytime show following his admission he had lied about having an affair with a younger colleague.
The two hosts had earlier faced a huge backlash following their alleged queue-jumping to see the Queen lying in state after her death in September 2022.
No doubt Kelly has been a shoulder to cry on during Holly’s troubles.
She once said of her elder sibling: “We’re more like friends than sisters.
“She was always the one I looked up to.”
The pair, who grew up in Brighton with parents Brian and Linda, have always been extremely close, with just two-and-a-half years between them.
Speaking in a joint interview in 2014, Holly, 43, said: “She’d be on her way out the house with friends and I’d stand at the door and say: ‘Can I come with you?’
“Most sisters would say: ‘No, I refuse to babysit you while I’m out.’ But she always allowed me to come along.”
But Kelly, 46, admits they “were like chalk and cheese.”
She explained: “I’m organised and regimented, Holly is messy.
“We excelled at different things at school.
“She loved drama and was really good at art.
“I loved English.
“Even to look at we’re polar opposites.
“She’s blonde and I’m dark.
Kelly was studying at university in Exeter when Holly got signed to Storm Models aged 14.
She recalled: “Holly was on the front cover of all the mags.
“I was so proud — I showed everyone.
“It was the first time we lived apart, but she used to come and stay for the weekend.”
The sisters even bought a house together in Putney, South West London.
Holly said: “You would expect some fireworks, but because we have the same friends and different roles within that group, none of that ever came into it.
“I’m more likely to be the one to say ‘everyone back to mine’ and cook for everyone, whereas she’s much better at tidying up.”
Organised Kelly, who lives in West Sussex with her husband David Foster and their daughter Lola, 11, even tidies up her sister’s handbag.
Holly said: “She walks into my house and empties my handbag out for me, without being asked.
“She takes everything out and sorts out my receipts.
“I’m happy for her to do it, because afterwards it feels like a brand new handbag.”
Even after starting families, the pair lived close by and saw each other daily.
Kelly said in 2014: “She’ll phone me on a Saturday and say: ‘Right, I’m in the car coming over for a cuppa. Are the kids up?’”
Holly now lives with TV producer husband Dan Baldwin, 49, and their three children, Harry, 14, Chester, 12, and eight-year-old Belle, in a £3million home in South West London.
But Kelly is never far away from her sister, joining her for a selfie after Holly bagged a Bafta TV Award in 2019 for her stint filling in for Ant McPartlin on I’m A Celebrity.
After Holly published her best-selling book Reflections in 2021, Kelly, who has 43,000 Instagram followers and posts under the handle @ladywilloughby, gushed: “You are clever, you are considered, you are humble, you are open, you are real, and most importantly you are just you.”
Kelly is the managing director of Wylde Moon, which Holly launched in 2021 to sell perfumes, wax melts candles and other lifestyle products.
While most recent accounts reveal it has just £149 in assets, the firm could net Holly millions.
Many of the articles on the site are written by Kelly under her married name Foster.
It’s not the first time the sisters have worked together.
In 2013 they wrote the children’s book series, School For Stars, which follows twin sisters Molly and Maria and their pal Pippa on their path to stardom.
Kelly explained: “Molly is most definitely based on Holly, even in terms of colourings.
“She’s blonde. Then Maria’s dark and the brainy one.”
Here, we look at other little-known sisters who have played a big part in their sibling’s success.
Rita Ora and Elena
SINGER Rita Ora was 16 when she first started working with her sibling Elena, who was 18 at the time.
As her manager, Elena helped the Hot Right Now hitmaker shoot to fame in 2012.
Rita, 33, said of her big sis: “She’s never lost her cool.
“She’s always kept it very together.”
Elena, 35, said: “I get as proud of the success as Rita does.
“It feels like a team thing.
“Obviously the public just sees Rita, but to us that’s just how it is.”
Gisele Bundchen and twin Patricia
GISELE Bundchen, 43, has described her twin sister Patricia – known as Pati – as her best friend and she has worked as the supermodel’s manager for over a decade.
The pair also have four other sisters, Graziela, Gabriela, Raquel and Rafaela and all but Graziela have worked for Gisele at some point.
The Brazilian beauty has said: “Family is what gives us our foundation, they are our greatest teachers, and they help us become who we are.”
Lady Gaga and Natali
FASHION designer Natali Germanotta has created some of Lady Gaga’s stage looks, including for the singer’s Las Vegas residency – but she isn’t always a fan of her elder sister’s outlandish style.
In an interview with Teen Vogue in 2011, she admitted: “Some of the stuff she wears I’d be like, ‘No, never.’ ”
Natali, 32, was also a stylist on her sibling’s 2018 movie A Star Is Born.
When 37-year-old Gaga – real name Stefani Germanotta – won the Oscar for her song Shallow, she gave a shout out to Natali, saying: “To my sister, my soulmate.
“I love you.”
Jennifer Lopez and Lynda
J-LO is the middle child of three sisters and shares a special bond with her elder sibling Lynda.
The journalist, radio presenter and producer co-founded movie production company Nuyorican Productions which made Jennifer’s true-life strip club drama Hustlers.
Lynda, 52, reportedly worked as her big sister’s executive assistant on the set of the 2019 film.
Jennifer, 54, said: “We’ve just always kind of been best friends.”
At Lynda’s 50th birthday bash in 2021, Jen burst into tears and described her as an “amazing, talented, beautiful, gorgeous angel from heaven.”
Lana Del Rey and Caroline
KNOWN as Chuck, Lana Del Rey’s younger sister Caroline Grant is a talented photographer who also works as the singer’s creative director.
She started taking pictures of the Video Games hitmaker as a teen before the pair collaborated on magazine shoots.
Chuck, 34, said in 2017: “We inspire each other to keep reaching for new artistic places to go, but we also remind each other of what our roots are in our individual crafts.”
Lana, 38, said: “We process things as a family. It’s never alone.
“Some nights it’s alone, but not really.
“We’re on the same page.
“We’re always on the same page.”