GB News favourite Eamonn Holmes made a rare and candid admission about marriage during a Valentine’s Day chat with co-presenter Ellie Costello, following his recent split from TV partner Ruth Langsford.
Ellie asked if he remembered his first Valentine, to which Eamonn quickly quipped: “I married her.” The sweet admission caught Ellie by surprise as she responded with a heartfelt: “Aww that’s so nice.”
Eamonn was referencing Gabrielle, his first wife who he wed in 1985 and with whom he shares three kids: Declan, Rebecca, and Niall.
Despite their union lasting a decade, it unravelled due partly to Eamonn’s job at GMTV requiring lengthy stints away from home in London, while his family remained in Belfast.
His struggles with the arrangement were detailed in his 2008 autobiography, This Is My Life: The Autobiography, where he penned: “We tended to be apart during the week because of my job, and I had no trouble with that – though Gabrielle obviously did. I always believed absence would make the heart grow fonder and, in fact, the commuting heightened my desperation for her, made the time less bearable and longer.”
Eamonn Holmes made the admission on GBNews (
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GB News)
He admitted that his absences let Gabrielle form a separate life with the children, leaving him feeling like an outsider during weekend visits, reports Belfast Live.
Eamonn’s father’s demise in 1991 plunged him into mourning, intensifying his desire for a closer connection with his wife to weather the sorrow. However, their marriage had already drifted apart.
Eamonn penned a heart-wrenching note saying: “Gabrielle was increasingly indifferent and I didn’t know why. I needed her close, I needed her to reach me and ease my pain, but she had concerns of her own, principal of which was an impending birth.”
Eamonn spoke to his colleague on Valentine’s Day (
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GB News)
After their separation, Eamonn found love again with Ruth Langsford, introduced by a GMTV colleague. Sparks flew instantly between them.
The pair dated for 14 years before they celebrated their union at Hampshire’s Elvetham Hall on 26 June 2010, in an affair so grand it graced Hello! magazine over two issues. Despite Eamonn’s acclaimed tenure beside Ruth on ITV’s This Morning until 2021, the duo began to grow apart.
Eamonn and Ruth shocked fans with their split (
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Chatting with TalkTV, Eamonn admitted: “Although we live together, we’re not really together… Ruth likes her own space [and] when we do This Morning it’s a rare time we actually interrelate.”
Fans were stunned by the unexpected news of the couple’s breakup last May after they had shared 28 years together, including 14 as a married couple.
