Good Morning America anchor TJ Holmes’ joke about giving his wife, Marilee Fiebig, “reasons” to leave has resurfaced following reports about his alleged romance with his co-anchor Amy Robach.
As the news about the TV hosts’ rumoured relationship has been circulating, Holmes’ old Facebook tribute to his wife, who he reportedly split from in August, has gone viral.
In March 2020, Holmes posted two images of Fiebig as part of the “10-year-challenge,” which is when social media users would share one recent photo alongside another from 10 years ago.
In the caption, the news anchor gushed over his wife and praised her for staying married to him for 10 years, before making jokes about how she should have left him.
“That’s not hyperbole. I’m not being dramatic. I gave her plenty of reasons, excuses, and opportunities to walk her fine ass out the doooooooor,” he wrote. “But instead, with her built-in Black woman superpower, she showed a grace and patience that’s incomprehensible.”
He went on to poke fun at how asking her to be together “for another 10 years would be asking too much” and called another decade of marriage “a stretch”.
Holmes concluded the post by acknowledging how thankful he is for his spouse and the relationship that they have.
“If she gave me another 10 weeks, I should consider myself lucky,” he wrote. “If she puts up with me [for] another 10 days, I’d be grateful. But if she would even spare another 10 minutes of her time for me today, I should consider myself blessed. This is MARILEE FIEBIG HOLMES, y’all. And I, T. J. Holmes, do solemnly swear ... that I .... was HER.”
In the comments of the post, fans have criticised his joke about his wife and addressed his rumoured relationship with Robach.
“This was such a VERY strange post from the jump, but now we know what some of those ‘plenty of reasons’ were. SMH,” one person claimed.
The news anchor and attorney tied the knot in 2010. Their marriage was three years after Holmes’ split from his first wife, Amy Ferson, with whom he shares two children, Jaiden and Brianna. In 2013, Holmes and Fiebig welcomed their daughter, Sabine.
Over the years, the former MSNBC correspondent has spoken candidly about his marriage and how much he changed because of it.
“My family and I are closer, my individual net worth has gone up every year since we met,” he wrote in a feature piece for TheRoot.com in 2014. “In every way, I’m better off because I’m married. So, for me, a successful marriage has revolved around this principle: I like who I am with her.”
On Wednesday, DailyMail broke the news about Holmes and Robach’s alleged romance. The publication shared photos of them together taken around New York City. The pair also reportedly took a trip to a private cabin in upstate New York two weeks before Thanksgiving.
In addition to Holmes’ marriage ending in August, Robach reportedly broke up with her husband of 12 years, Andrew Shue, that same month.
Holmes also addressed Robach in his first on-air appearance on Wednesday, following reports of their alleged “affair”. While he didn’t reference the rumours, he did note that Holmes and fellow correspondent Jennifer Ashton, who are usually on GMA3 with him, were missing from the segment.
“You can leave us now with comfort in knowing, guys, that Robach and Dr. Ashton will be back real, real soon, okay? Won’t be stuck with me, just me, much longer,” he said, when signing off from the program.
Neither Holmes or Robach have publicly confirmed if they’re dating. However, they have both deactivated their Instagram accounts.
The Independent has contacted ABC about Holmes and a representative for Robach for comment.
