Eamonn Holmes accuses ITV bosses of ‘lying’ over his This Morning exit

‘Let’s get it straight, they left me,’ he said

Eamonn Holmes has lashed out at ITV bosses over his departure from This Morning, accusing them of “lying” about the reason he left.

The veteran broadcaster had hosted This Morning every Friday for 15 years alongside Ruth Langsford, his wife, while Phillip Schofield presented the series from Monday to Thursday alongside Holly Willoughby.

Holmes and Langsford were replaced by Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary on the show in January 2021.

Holmes now presents a breakfast show on the controversial, right-leaning news and opinion channel GB News.

At the time, there were reports that Holmes had decided to leave ITV for a new job at GB News, but he has denied this in a new interview.

“Let’s get it straight, they left me,” he told The Mirror.

Asked whether he believes his departure was linked to his controversial comments about 5G masts and coronavirus, Holmes said: “It’s never been mentioned to me. If that was the case, at least that would be a reason.

“And if Dame EasyJet [ITV boss Carolyn McCall, the former chief exec of the airline] had wanted an apology or some sort of explanation, fine. But she never picked up the phone and asked me.”

Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes (Getty Images)

He continued: “I’ve never had any communication with Dame Carolyn McCall. And I still stand by those remarks because not once did I say 5G spreads coronavirus.

“I said that as reporters, we should always question the narrative. And that has never been more obvious than under the No 10 regime that has existed from then and beyond.”

At the time, media regulator Ofcom said Holmes’s “ill-judged” comments “risked undermining viewers’ trust in advice from public authorities and scientific evidence”.

Holmes dismissed claims he left ITV for GB News, saying “the department of disinformation at ITV” can “put out all the lies” they want.

He added: “I wish somebody would show me the email or the letter that I was sent to say, ‘Eamonn, this is why this is coming to an end.’ But to tell lies, that I left them to go to GB News... I didn’t – they left me. Let’s get it straight. They left me. I don’t care, because our audience is only up.”

In response to Holmes’s comments, a spokesperson for ITV told The Independent: “This isn’t a version of events that we recognise and as we have said before we wish Eamonn all of the very best.”

This is not the first time Holmes has hit out at the broadcaster. In February, he said: “No one explained anything to me. I’m all for TV companies being able to choose who works for them, but it would be nice if you were told why you were going.

“They’re sly. They didn’t want to announce that I’d been dropped because it would adversely affect audience figures, so they made it look as if I’d walked away from them rather than the other way round.”

He added: “I’m not going to have myself derided as some sort of has-been. I may be male and pale but I’m still at the top of my game.”