Eamonn Holmes first wife: Heartbreaking reason broadcaster split from Gabrielle

The broadcaster, 62, has just joined GB News to present a new early morning breakfast show. The former ITV ‘This Morning’ star hosted his first programme on the network yesterday alongside his new co-presenter, Isabel Webster. ‘Breakfast with Eamonn and Isabel’, which will air from Monday to Friday, represents a major milestone for GB News. The programme is the channel’s first show to be broadcast on its new TV and radio dual service.

This year GB News became the first UK broadcaster to simultaneously air its entire output live on TV and radio nationally.

Eamonn’s new role sees him leave his popular presenting partnership with his wife Ruth Langsford on ITV.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2010, have shared the ‘This Morning’ sofa together for several years.

Viewers are well used to the pair’s on-screen partnership, however before marrying Ruth, Eamonn was married to Gabrielle Holmes.

Eamonn and his first wife, who fell for one another in the summer of 1976, split up in 1996 after a 10-year marriage.

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The broadcaster said the pair had an “amicable divorce” and spoke about their separation in his 2008 book, ‘This is My Life: The Autobiography’.

The star discussed how the marriage broke down in the period following the death of his father.

He wrote: “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 and Gabrielle have three children together, Declan, Rebecca and Niall.

In his book, Eamonn also opened up about the impact his career had taken on his marriage to his first wife.

He said: “That was the first time I realised there wasn’t that emotional support there for me, though I probably had suspected it.

“By that stage 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, [which] made the time less bearable and longer.

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“But it gave my wife a life of her own, with her children, and come weekends I was intruding on it, y’know.”

Eamonn first met Ruth in 1997, with the couple welcoming their son, Jack, in 2002.

Eamonn mentioned Ruth in the first episode of his new breakfast show this week, jokingly saying how she made demands with the shopping.

Before taking on his new role at GB News, Eamonn also praised the channel, which only launched last year.

In a statement he said: “I've spent my career on broadcasting firsts and start-ups and GB News is one of the most exciting yet. It's just the kind of shake-up the industry needs.

“I've admired GB News from the beginning for its clever mix of punchy debate but delivered with warmth and even some fun.

“To me the greatest honour in journalism is to give a voice and respect to the unheard, and that's exactly what GB News is all about.”

‘This is My Life: The Autobiography’ was written by Eamonn Holmes and published by Orion in 2008. It is available here.