Holly Willoughby broke down on camera during an emotional interview with Ellen Roome, the mother of 14-year-old Jools Sweeney, who died in April 2022. His parents believe social media played a role in his death, pointing to what they have described as an online challenge gone wrong.
The exchange appeared in the third episode of Willoughby’s YouTube series Together. The 45-year-old repeatedly struggled to compose herself as Roome recounted her son’s story, telling her guest: “It’s just so horrible, it’s just so horrible, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Willoughby was seen wiping away tears with a tissue after Roome revealed she still watches an old video of Jools to hear his voice.
Towards the end of the episode, Willoughby reflected on the conversation by speaking about her own children, Harry, 17, Belle, 15, and Chester, 11. She told Roome she would tell her kids all about it, and acknowledged that teenagers now live closely alongside social media.
Also in the episode, Willoughby read aloud a letter from Lauren Cowell, wife of Simon Cowell, praising Roome’s campaigning. The letter said Cowell was endlessly proud of Roome and felt incredibly lucky to call her a friend, and thanked her for her courage and unwavering determination to make the world safer for children.
Inquest victory
The interview came weeks after Roome won her fight to reopen the inquest into her son’s death. A judge overturned the original inquiry, which had lasted just 23 minutes and heard no oral evidence. Roome had taken legal action against the senior coroner for Gloucestershire, with her legal team arguing that a number of lines of inquiry had not been pursued.
Series performance
The episode marks a sharp change of pace from earlier instalments of Together, which featured lighter conversations with guests including Stanley Tucci and Katherine Ryan. The first episode drew 41,000 views on the day of release, outperforming Richard Osman’s The Rest is Entertainment, which launched a new episode the same day and received 29,000 views. Willoughby’s channel amassed more than 110,000 views in its first week.
The series is part of Willoughby’s gradual return to public life after she stepped down from This Morning in October 2023 following the revelation of a plot to kidnap and murder her.
