Holly Willoughby cuts a casual figure while picking up cupcakes and groceries as her summer begins

She joined co-host Phillip Schofield in bidding an emotional goodbye to This Morning for the summer.

And Holly Willoughby looked ready to begin her annual break as she loaded up on cupcakes and groceries during a trip to Waitrose on Friday.

The presenter, 39, dressed down in an all black ensemble as she busied herself loading shopping bags into her car.

Despite her casual look, Holly still looked stylish in her black hoodie and black skinny jeans, which she paired with white trainers.

The star wore a pair of sunglasses on her head, while she carried her personal essentials in a taupe handbag.

Holly, who has been doing her own hair and make-up on the show for the past few months, wore her blonde tresses loose, while she looked fresh-faced with minimal make-up. 

The TV host appeared determined to quickly fill up her car and head home with the treats, no doubt for her children Harry, 11, Belle, nine and five-year-old Chester.

Earlier in the day, Holly and Phil, 58, said an emotional farewell to This Morning ahead of their long-awaited summer break.

The pair closed the show by paying tribute to the show’s crew who continued to work hard behind the scenes during lockdown, after a chaotic show which saw them down glasses of wine and drive an ice cream van.

Fighting back tears Phillip added he hopes when he and Holly return to the show in September he’ll be able to give her ‘a b****y hug,’ as the pair have been forced to sit apart in accordance with social distancing.

Phillip and Holly kicked off the show by arriving in grand fashion on an ice cream van, delighting the pair as they attempted to create the iconic 99. 

Holly gushed: ‘Ice cream, come and get your ice cream… Look at this, this is actually the thing of dreams!

‘I’ve never [been] inside an ice cream van… I’m not coming out of here today, you know that?… I’m gonna lie under this [ice cream] machine with my mouth open!’

The pair tasked Alison Hammond with manning the vehicle throughout the show, after she returned to the studio earlier in the week.

Joking it was the ‘last day of term,’ Phillip and Holly embraced their final day on set by enjoying a wine tasting segment, and indulging in lobster rolls cooked by John Torode.

Despite clearly enjoying themselves throughout the show, Phillip and Holly ended This Morning on a moving note, as they paid tribute to the show’s production team.

Following a look-back at the series’ most emotional and hilarious moments, the duo paid tribute to the show’s crew for keeping the programme on air during the lockdown, with many still working hard from home.

Phillip said: ‘We often talk about our This Morning family on screen but that family genuinely extends behind the scenes and we’ve all kept each other going through this very tough time.

‘So we wanted to say thank you to our producers, researchers, director, editor, and all the amazing crew here on the studio floor and the many, many more who have been working from home throughout this pandemic so that we can keep you company each morning.

‘Hopefully when we come back in September I can give you a b****y hug!’

During the summer break Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford will present This Morning from Mondays to Thursdays, with guest hosts appearing on Fridays.

Meanwhile, This Morning is reportedly set to hire a black presenter, after ITV bosses unveiled a plan to diversify the channel with more black, Asian and ethnic minority stars.

Last month, The Mail on Sunday revealed that the programme’s editor Martin Frizell is seeking to change the line-up to include a black presenter.

It has now been claimed that bosses held a meeting on Thursday to reveal a ‘diversity acceleration plan’ with sights to recruit a black presenter for the first time in the magazine show’s 32 year history.

Insiders told Daily Star that the strategy details how ITV can ‘better represent contemporary British life on screen and will do this by ‘increasing the diversity of presenters of ITV’s highest profile programmes’.

While the plans are said to be extending to Loose Women, GMB, Coronation Street and Emmerdale in the future, it has been claimed that This Morning – now fronted by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield – will come first.

MailOnline has contacted ITV for comment. Rochelle and Marvin Humes and Alison Hammond act as guest presenters and host segments, however it is believed the shake-up is looking to hire a presenter for the main show.

In reports last month, it was alleged that Frizell told staff in a Zoom meeting: ‘There is not a black presenter on any of the programmes today. We plan to change that, we [This Morning] are looking into it.’