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Louise Thomas
Editor
Eamonn Holmes was forced to bow out of his GB News programme early due to ill health.
The presenter prompted concern among viewers on Tuesday (1 July) when he was suddenly absent halfway through an interview segment.
Holmes, 64, and his co-host Isabel Webster interviewed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health Maria Caulfield at 7.45am.
Halfway through the chat, however, during which Holmes was completely silent, he exited the studio and left Webster to present the breakfast show solo for the remaining 90 minutes. An explanation for his absence was not given at the time.
A spokesperson for GB News has since told MailOnline: “Eamonn had to finish a little earlier today as he was feeling unwell. He hopes to be back tomorrow.”
His swift exit follows just days after the broadcaster told The Mirror that he felt as though he was living on “borrowed time” because his father had died at the age of 65 from a heart attack in 1991.
Holmes made the comments at the TRIC (Television and Radio Industries Club) Awards, which took place in London on 25 June.
The veteran broadcaster is currently suffering from chronic back pain, and required a walker with a seat at the ceremony, stating that he considered pulling out of the event due to the severe pain.
“I wasn’t going to come, but I’ve got this new chair with all these gadgets,” explained Holmes, who previously said in January that he was facing the “harsh reality” that he may never be able to walk again unaided.
Elsewhere during the awards ceremony, he told the publication that he is “not OK” following his split from Ruth Langsford.
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“I’m not OK. This is not a good time at all,” he said, adding: “It’s too early to say but I hope we can still be friends”.
Holmes had been in a relationship with Langford since 1996, co-presenting This Morning from 2006 until their axeing in 2020 in favour of Alison Hammon and Dermot O’Leary.
Holmes and Langsford’s divorce brings their working partnership to an end. Over the years, they have presented several shows together, including ITV quiz show Gift Wrapped (2014), Channel 5’s How the Other Half Lives (2015-17) and dieting series Lose a Stone in Four Weeks, which began on Channel 4 in 2019.
While Langsford remained with ITV, and regularly features on Loose Women as a host, Holmes has moved to controversial channel GB News.
The couple, who announced they were separating in May, share a 22-year-old son, Jack.
