Holly Willoughby "literally never spoke" as a child.
The 'This Morning' presenter - who works alongside Phillip Schofield on the ITV show - has surprised her childhood friends by becoming a chat show host on one of the UK's most watched daytime TV programme because she had such an introvert personality as a youngster.
Holly said: "I never grew up thinking I would be a TV presenter. Outside the fantasy world I shared with Kel [her sister] I was actually really shy.
"Many of my school friends still say: 'How have you made a living out of talking? You literally never spoke!' Which is true."
The 32-year-old star - who suffers from dyslexia - admits her parents were over the moon after she was scouted by a modelling agency at the age of 14 because her sister Kelly Willoughby - who also works on television - was always the one achieving the high grades at school.
Speaking to The Sunday Times Magazine, she explained: "It was also a relief to everyone that I had some direction after that [being scouted].
"So one thing led to another and my confidence grew. Nobody worried about [her sister] Kelly because she was naturally a high achiever - she was working hard for her A-Levels at the time. With me anything was a bonus - my parents just wanted me to find something happy."
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