Eamonn Holmes

Holmes was educated at Holy Family Primary School [5] and St Malachy's College,[2] Belfast. He then studied journalism at the Dublin College of Business Studies.[5]

Holmes was accused of being opposed to LGBT parenting when he told two gay interviewees in a 2000 GMTV episode that "You are not meant to have children. You are going against nature!"[30] American illusionist David Blaine appeared on the show on 29 August 2001. Holmes cites this interview with Blaine as the most awkward moment of his professional career and one of TV's bloopers when Blaine refused to speak and gave Holmes the "evil eye".[29]

In November 2009, Jon Culshaw appeared as Holmes on The Impressions Show in a series of three comedy sketches in which he was portrayed as having an appetite so uncontrollable that he eats a sofa, flowers and even a guest (Frankie Dettori), using the catchphrase 'I was fierce hungry, so I was'. Even though Holmes had interviewed Culshaw and his co-star Debra Stephenson on This Morning to promote the show,[31] after the programme aired the presenter instructed his lawyers to send a letter of complaint to the BBC.[32] The letter resulted in an apology from the BBC along with a withdrawal of any future comedy sketches featuring Holmes.[33] Both the complaint itself and the outcome of Holmes's legal action drew generally unfavourable criticism from media observers and online commentators.[34][35][36]

While presenting This Morning in October 2011, Holmes described singer Jonathan Wilkes as "retarded" on air. He later apologised after complaints and calls for him to be sacked. Holmes said: "I have to say sorry to three or four of you who are upset because I used the word retarded. You seem to have taken it personally or think I am being insulting. I would never want to do that. There is this man who has an autistic child and said I insulted his child. I would never use it in that context. Sorry if that caused you offence".[37][38]

In October 2011, Holmes provoked criticism by suggesting that a rape victim should take taxis in future, leading to accusations of victim blaming.[39]

On 12 May 2016, Eamonn Holmes provoked criticism by comparing an attack by West Ham fans to the Hillsborough disaster.

Eamonn Holmes was reprimanded by ITV producers after making remarks about Meghan Markle. This followed a complaint to Ofcom criticising his use of the term "uppity" as a racist term to describe Meghan Markle. He then followed this up in an interview on Talkradio where he called her "awful, woke, weak, manipulative, spoilt and irritating" and said he didn't think he would like her, despite admitting he has never met her in person.[40]

In April 2020, Holmes appeared to perpetuate the conspiracy theory that the building of 5G masts had led to the coronavirus pandemic.[41] In a feature on This Morning surrounding "Fake News" related to the virus Holmes stated that he "didn't accept mainstream media immediately slapping it down". He suggested that it was a sign of an "enquiring mind" to investigate the theory which had already been much debunked by experts. However, Holmes said that "it suits the state narrative" to deny the theory.[42] Ofcom soon announced that it was investigating the incident. In a statement on the following day's programme, Holmes read a statement which stated "there is no connection between the present national health emergency and 5G, and to suggest otherwise would be wrong and indeed it could be dangerous."[43] Ofcom received more than 400 complaints about the incident and later issued guidance to ITV on its coverage of the pandemic. On the two-way with Alice Beer, Ofcom commented: "In our view, Eamonn Holmes’ ambiguous comments were ill-judged and risked undermining viewers’ trust in advice from public authorities and scientific evidence."[44]

In 1985, Holmes married his first wife, Gabrielle Holmes, with whom he has three children, Declan, Rebecca and Niall. They separated in 1995, due to Holmes' father's death and journalism career taking a toll on their marriage.[45] In 1997, Holmes began dating Ruth Langsford, but the couple kept their relationship secret out of respect for Gabrielle and their children.

In 2002, Langsford gave birth to their son, Jack Alexander Holmes. Holmes and Gabrielle eventually divorced in 2005.

On 26 June 2010, Holmes married Langsford at Elvetham Hall, near Hartley Wintney, Hampshire.[45] The couple sold exclusive rights to report on the wedding ceremony and the reception to Hello! magazine in a deal that saw the publication feature the event over two issues, in July 2010.[46]

In 2006, Holmes was awarded an honorary degree by Queen's University Belfast.[2][47] He has also received an honorary degree from the University of Staffordshire.[48]

Holmes is a supporter of Manchester United FC.[49] In December 2005, he opened the eulogies at the funeral of Northern Irish footballer George Best.[50]

Holmes and Langsford are patrons of Dogs Trust.[51] and the couple adopted their dog, Maggie from the charity in 2011.[52] In 2014, the couple supported the Dementia Friends campaign, which is an Alzheimer's Society initiative.[53]

In April 2015, Holmes became a celebrity ambassador for the children's charity, Variety GB.[54][55] In January 2016, he became a patron of Northern Ireland Kidney Patients' Association.[56]

Television

Film

Radio

Holmes was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to broadcasting in the 2018 New Year Honours.[60] He collected his OBE from Queen Elizabeth II on 1 June 2018.

• Eamonn Holmes on IMDb
• Official website