Holly Willoughby speaks for first time about friend Ant McPartlin’s arrest

Holly Willoughby has spoken for the first time about friend Ant McPartlin's arrest.

The This Morning host said that she thinks Ant "just needs to look after himself" and that she loves him "to bits." She told The Guardian: 

"I love him to bits, it’s not something that I find very easy to talk about. Because it’s a friend. His is not my story to tell. He’s just got to look after himself, that’s all.”

Ant was arrested for drink-driving last month when he was involved in a collision in London. Following the accident, a number of individuals were treated for minor injuries and a child was taken to hospital as a precaution. Holly also argued that she and co-host Philip Schofield didn't avoid the topic of Ant's arrest on TV. The pair received rare criticism following the incident from people who believed they didn't discuss the matter. Holly said that that didn't happen, but that understandably, it was hard for her to talk about it because of her relationship with Ant.

"Everybody knows that Ant is a very good friend of mine and I’ve known him for a very long time. “To be honest, on that first day, nobody knew what had happened, and you know, it’s an ongoing police case right now. It’s not something anybody should be talking about."

Ant is expected to appear in court next week.