Holly Willoughby broke a scooter rider’s neck after knocking him over in her £25,000 Mini Cooper.
The former This Morning host, 44, had been accused of committing the offence at the wheel of her vehicle on August 28.
Ms Willoughby – renowned for her squeaky clean, family-friendly image – did not appear for the short hearing at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday morning, where she pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention via post.
Prosecutors from the Metropolitan Police sought to have the incident treated as Category 1A, the most serious offence just below the threshold of dangerous driving, a more severe offence.
Following arguments from the star’s defence, magistrates ruled the incident fell into Category 1B, suggesting the star bore some degree of culpability for the crash.
She was handed six points on her licence and fined £2,444 including court costs, to be paid within 14 days.
The case was called under her married name, Holly Baldwin; the star is married to TV producer Daniel Baldwin.
Ms Willoughby had been driving the sporty hatchback in Barnes and turned right as the moped rider was passing her at approximately 20mph, the court heard.
As she did so, the rider, on a white Piaggio scooter, was overtaking her – and was sent flying to the ground in the collision.
He collided with the front wing of the car and was sent spiralling into the road – suffering a fracture to his neck and a broken toe.
Aisling Byrnes, defending, said the star had suffered a ‘momentary lapse of judgment’ and was left ‘traumatised’ by the incident.
Prosecutor Geraldine Dickinson told the court: ‘The defendant was driving [the Mini] in Barnes.
‘The intention was to turn right, which she did without indicating and the rider was thrown from the motorbike. This resulted in the injury to the rider: a C7 fracture and a broken toe.
‘[The victim] was riding his white Piaggio scooter, approximately 180 metres before the traffic lights, which were showing red at the time.’
The unnamed victim’s statement read: ‘I was travelling at a speed of around 20mph and was slowing down to stop.
‘As I was level with the black Mini Cooper the driver turned right without indicating in order to enter the road. This caused me to be thrown to the ground in the carriageway.’
The court heard that Ms Willoughby got out of her car to help after the incident, offering the unnamed rider water and her mobile phone so he could call anyone he needed to.
She waited at the scene until police arrived – and admitted to officers it was her fault.
Ms Byrnes said of Ms Willoughby: ‘She was traumatised to find she had caused this accident and the injury.
‘This was an unsafe manoeuvre. There was no indicator used. Whether she looked in her mirrors is unclear. The driver didn’t see the overtaking moped driver.’
Ms Byrnes added: ‘It’s worth remembering that Category A is for extreme examples of culpability. In my submission this was a momentary lapse of judgement and not an extreme example.
‘This error is one that was completely out of character for Mrs Baldwin, who is of otherwise exemplary character.’
Ms Byrnes added of the moment of impact: ‘She is extremely remorseful. She left her vehicle, she want straight to the moped driver, offered him assistance and water and her mobile phone so he could phone anyone he needed to.
‘She waited at the scene until the responders arrived, and she admitted responsibility at the scene.’
The £1,653 fine was reduced from £2,480 in light of the presenter’s early admission of guilt.
Magistrate David Charnley said: ‘She has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. There was no use of indicators, mirrors were either not checked or the driver didn’t see the passing motorbike rider.’
The star has had car issues in the past – and the episode came amidst a difficult few years.
In 2019, she had to dump her flashy £100,000 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen 4×4 in a disabled parking space after it had a flat tyre.
Three years before that, she had reported the same car stolen – only for it to turn up, abandoned, close to her husband’s office hours later.
She distanced herself from fellow This Morning host Phillip Schofield after his relationship with a much younger co-worker was exposed in 2023.
That same year, she quit This Morning after a stalker threatened to kidnap and rape her.
Police found bottles of chloroform and a ‘kidnap kit’ of cable ties, a ball gag and rope at Gavin Plumb’s flat in Essex.
Plumb was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 16 years in prison last summer over the ordeal. An appeal against his sentence failed in October.
Ms Willoughby then made her return to TV screens at the start of 2025 in Netflix’s Celebrity Bear Hunt opposite survivalist Bear Grylls.
However, the American screening giant axed the series after just one season, reportedly due to its high production costs.
The show was shot on location in Costa Rica, and Netflix reportedly spent £1million on world-class security to protect stars from drug cartels.
In March, ITV also axed Dancing on Ice, announcing that the show would be ‘rested’ with ‘no current plans for another series’.
Ms Willoughby had presented the show opposite Schofield until he left the network. She had presented the last series alongside Stephen Mulhern.
She remains one of the most popular TV personalities in the UK and is hotly tipped as the favourite to replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman as the host of Strictly Come Dancing next year.
