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Holly Willoughby's former co-star unrecognisable 25 years later

Holly Willoughby's former co-star unrecognisable 25 years later

Daily Mirror12-07-2025
A former S Club TV star looks completely different to his time on the show alongside Holly Willoughby after he made a huge career change
A former co-star of Holly Willoughby's looks very different over two decades since the pair worked together. In the early days of her blossoming career, Holly was one of the faces of S Club TV.
And starring alongside her was Marcus O'Donovan. Now 42, Marcus's appearance is nearly unrecognisable 25 years later. The duo appeared on screen together between 2000 and 2001.

While the show was short-lived, there were a number of familiar faces who appeared on the production. Among those also involved was Ben Barnes and Amy Garcia. Now, while Holly and co have continued their journey in front of the camera, Marcus has opted for a new route.

The former presenter is now the owner of a sparkling water company called CO2 You. He previously owned a snack company called HUSK from 2011 until 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He's never shied away from his love of his new industry. Previously speaking to About Time Magazine, he admitted he wished he had asked for honest feedback on his idea before jumping into it.

He said: "The hardest thing in the food industry isn't making a great product or branding it well, it's getting your product to market and understanding logistics and manufacturing. There is a lot to learn.
'It can be very lonely, and you may need a lot of funding. Reach out to me if you're just starting. I'm always happy to give someone 15 minutes on the phone."

While Marcus' career took a completely different direction, Holly became a mainstay on the small screen. However, it wasn't always set that way, with Holly admitting she almost wrote herself off in the industry.
The 42-year-old presenter opened up about feeling "different" when she was younger in a documentary that she has described as "important". She's suggested that she ended up "writing herself off" due to a challenging experience.
The star previously explained how she was diagnosed with dyslexia shortly before her GCSEs. During her time on This Morning, she was shared how she felt "shameful" about struggling with spelling for years. However, she also revealed on the ITV show that she's since become proud to have dyslexia.

Opening up on Jamie's Dyslexia Revolution last month, Holly said she felt "different" when she was at school. "I definitely was terrible at spelling," she confessed. "I knew that because in spelling tests I'd always get really poor results."
She added: "I always knew that when I'd get my homework back, there would be red pen all over it where there would be 'silly mistakes'. I felt like I was working really, really hard with not getting much results. So I felt different."
And Holly later added: "The school system is made for a certain type of learning and it's so hard when you don't learn like that."
Other people who spoke out in the documentary included former Made In Chelsea star Jamie Laing.
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