Midsomer Murders reveals first-look at Holly Willoughby cameo

Midsomer Murders stars Neil Dudgeon and Nick Hendrix with Holly Willoughby
Holly Willoughby joined the cast for the season finale. (Image credit: ITV)

Midsomer Murders has given us a sneak-peak of Holly Willoughby's upcoming cameo as the "queen of daytime" in the hit crime series.

The clip from Holly's Midsomer debut was shown on Good Morning Britain today when hosts Kate Garraway and Richard Madeley were joined by Neil Dudgeon, who plays DCI John Barnaby.

Holly Willoughby is set to appear in the final episode of the season, which is called The Witches of Angel’s Rise.

In the clip, Holly is seen being interviewed before John Barnaby arrives with his colleague DS Jamie Winter (Nick Hendrix) and the duo spots her. Naturally, this is the perfect time for a bit of banter between the pair.

"Is that the queen of daytime?", Jamie asks, to which John replies: "Gloria Hunniford? Are you sure?"

When asked what Holly was doing in Midsomer, Neil said: "Well, she's sort of a friend of the show I suppose — she's a great fan of the show and we're always looking to broaden our casting net."

Discussing her cameo further, which was filmed two years ago, he added: "She was great, she was thoroughly professional.

"I think she was a bit nervous when she first arrived. She’s playing a character called Holly Willoughby, I wouldn’t like to say that it’s herself."

Holly's scene has been shared on YouTube where she's shown speaking to the two detectives, particularly DS Jamie Winter who seems to have taken a shine to her.

Meanwhile, there's another great guest star in the season finale as EastEnders star Colin Salmon has joined the star-studded lineup. 

In an interview with What to Watch, Colin teased his character and said: "Gerard King, at his core, is not a bad man. He has a weakness and, for whatever reason, he does what he does, but he has a sensitivity which is why I think he is good at what he does. 

"He’s a man with a big heart who has allowed himself to weaken and prey on the weaknesses of others. There is an element of performance to being a spirit medium which is important, but not when it’s used to get power over people, that leads to some issues." 

Midsomer Murders season 22 concludes on Sunday, August 27 on ITV1 at 8 pm. It will also be available on ITVX.

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Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Now she works for our sister site TechRadar in the same role. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress