ITV have reportedly hit back at Eamonn Holmes' recent comments about This Morning and claimed that viewers simply didn't want to watch him anymore.
Eamonn, 62, had a regular slot hosting the ITV daytime programme alongside his wife Ruth Langsford on Fridays until they were replaced by Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary.
In an interview with the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine, Eamonn accused bosses at This Morning of being "sly" and hypocritical over his departure amid a diversity drive.
But The Mail on Sunday have now revealed that executives carried out extensive analysis which found that Eamonn's popularity had simply waned.
Sources have also said Eamonn fell out of favour with management after casting doubt on media outlets that dismiss false claims linking 5G technology to coronavirus.
According to insiders, both reasons were explained to his agent, although the Northern Irish star has insisted he received no explanation.
"ITV is always looking at what the viewers want, what the people watching the show want," an insider said.
"Put it this way, they wanted change, the viewers didn’t want to watch him any more. Things have to change, they evolve and for him to say there was no explanation isn’t true.
"Maybe Eamonn just didn’t like the reasons given," the insider added.
A spokesperson for ITV told the Mirror on Saturday: "This isn't a version of events that we recognise and as we have said before we wish Eamonn all of the very best."
On the topic of diversity, they added: "As we have laid out in our Diversity Acceleration plan we are committed to improving representation both on and off screen and we publicly report on our progress against our commitments and targets."
However on Sunday, Eamonn's agent Jonathan Shalit told The Mirror: "I don’t believe a ‘source’ said anything that was official as ITV have always behaved with great respect to InterTalent. However it is simply not true that research showed that viewers no longer wanted to watch Eamonn Holmes.
"Research has actually showed Eamonn rated better than others who replaced him on This Morning.
"The facts are simple. Eamonn is one of the most loved broadcasters in UK. His GB NEWS show now often beats his Sky News rival and the BBC have recommissioned his show ‘Farm to Feast’," his rep added.
Elsewhere in his interview, Eamonn also took issue with his former This Morning colleague Phillip Schofield.
The star called out his fellow presenter out for cutting short wife Ruth short in the middle of a trailer for Loose Women on This Morning in 2019.
"I only had about three more words to say," a hurt-looking Ruth said.
Eamonn stated that "Phillip is renowned for snubbing people" and he was "hurt" by the awkward incident.
"He's very passive-aggressive. It's up to Ruth to say how she felt, but I was feeling hurt for her," he confessed.
"No one would have snubbed me like that."
The GB News star passionately added: "I have a good Belfast street fighter in me… I would be direct. I don't go for presenters who think they have a special privilege or aura or influence."
