AMANDA PLATELL: I must apologise to Ruth Langsford. She was betrayed by Eamonn Holmes and, as he battles ill health and she rakes in millions, there is one question that must be on his mind
After Eamonn Holmes mysteriously ‘disappeared’ midway through presenting his GB News breakfast TV show last week, many of us wondered what on earth was going on. Three hours in, why couldn’t this legendary TV trouper go on with the show?
Yes, we knew he had been suffering from serious health problems for some years, that he needed a wheelchair to get to and from the studio, and even that he required assistance to get on to the set.
But this appeared to be a new setback and seemingly more evidence of his battle with infirmity.
And the question that struck me was this: ‘Why did he ever ditch his wife Ruth?’
She had, after all, stayed with him loyally through 14 years of marriage and 27 years in total as a glittering TV couple. She had been there to support him through his double hip replacements and surgery for three slipped discs. Together, supporting each other, they had endured their ignominious departure from ITV’s This Morning in 2021.
When news of their split emerged last May I’m ashamed to say I was one of those who criticised Ruth, sanctimoniously lecturing her about her marriage vows, in sickness and in health and all that.
Following Eamonn’s mid-show disappearance last week, leaving his co-presenter Ellie Costello to carry the show alone, colleagues said they feared for his TV future
Only later did I discover that the real reason for the marriage breakdown was not her abandoning her sickly husband, but that the 65-year-old Eamonn had formed an ‘intimate’ online attachment with another woman lasting for some years.
Ruth did not walk away from Eamonn because he was sick. She ditched him and called the divorce lawyers because she discovered his relationship with a younger woman.
Crikey, how that must have hurt her, especially when folk like me sided with sickly Eamonn, not knowing he had headed off for pastures new with his now girlfriend Katie Alexander, 43, and 22 years his junior.
True, Eamonn is said to love Katie’s company and she has been seen at his side at various showbusiness events as well as on a luxury Mediterranean cruise.
But at 65, frail Eamonn today could not be further from the man he was in his heyday with Ruth, when they were broadcasting gold, the life and soul of any party together - a laughing couple who were chatty and witty and gregarious.
Now largely confined to his wheelchair, his cheeky grin has gone, the vivacity and Northern Irish charm a distant memory.
As one insider said: ‘He looks so sad so much of the time. You can’t help but feel sorry for him. He looks like he’s in pain and it’s awful to watch.’
He’s also suffered financial woes following a dispute with HMRC and no longer lives in the £3.2millon house he shared with Ruth in Weybridge, Surrey, which is likely to be sold.
Ruth Langsford and Holmes were married for 14 years and appeared together on screen for 27
Holmes, who has been suffering from serious health problems for some years, with his girlfriend Katie Alexander, who is 22 years his junior
Home today is a bachelor pad in Kingston, south-west London. Work, it seems, is the only thing that keeps him going. He still feels compelled to head off morning after morning to GB News.
‘He should be at home resting but instead he’s up at the crack of dawn to start the show,’ says a source. ‘He’s 65 years old, he looks so frail. You literally never see him walk, he gets wheeled into the studio and then on to the set.’
Wouldn’t things have been so much better for him if he and Ruth were still a couple?
They would probably still be living together in their lovely home, enjoying weekends with their son Jack Alexander Holmes and family get-togethers with Eamonn’s three children Declan, Rebecca and Niall from his first marriage.
Conservative estimates suggest Ruth’s new show is such a hit with middle-aged, elastic-waist loving mums it has netted her a £4million annual income.
I’m not sure Eamonn’s new squeeze, ‘relationship counsellor’ and divorcee Katie Alexander, who charges £50 per session for her wisdom on keeping relationships alive, has deep enough pockets to fund the lifestyle to which her beau has became accustomed.
And how striking that Ruth has remained mostly silent over her husband’s betrayal. I salute her for that and apologise for my former criticisms.
So back to Eamonn. Are there moments in the dark of night when he is soul-searching and wondering what if? What if I hadn’t ditched Ruth?
As a friend of Eamonn’s told my journalist colleague Katie Hind: ‘The last thing you need when you’re in your mid-60s is a divorce. It throws everything up into the air.’ It certainly seems to have done so with Eamonn.
For Ruth, however, life is very different. She is free from her curmudgeonly, cheating, wheelchair-bound ex-partner who many say was a difficult man to work with, full of his own self-importance.
Following Eamonn’s mid-show disappearance last week, leaving his co-presenter Ellie Costello to carry the show alone, colleagues said they feared for his TV future. As they should.
Meanwhile, the only one left smiling in this tawdry tale is his soon to be former wife – Ruth Langsford. After such treachery wheeling her way, I hope she can find her own happiness.
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