Eamonn slams split rumours
Eamonn Holmes reveals the lengths his wife Ruth Langsford went to in pursuit of a certain handsome star…
TV hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford have been presenting their eye-opening travelogue How The Other Half Lives, exploring the lives of the super-rich, since 2015. Though how they fit it in, what with co-presenting This Morning, Loose Women (Ruth), talk RADIO (Eamonn) and a 100 other commitments – including raising son Jack, 17 – is beyond us!
In the latest installment this Friday, they travel to Italy and show up at a Milan fashion show, learn how to eat pasta properly, and go on a mission to meet George Clooney near his home on Lake Como…
Your show Eamonn &Ruth: In Search Of George Clooney [part of How The Other Half Lives], is brilliant!
Ha, thank you. We do lots of telly, but this is the show we perhaps get stopped in the street about most, even though people never remember what it’s called!
And you look like you’re having so much fun…
We love it – it’s a privilege to get these glimpses into other people’s lives. And viewers enjoy a bit of armchair travel, as well as the banter between us – and believe me, it’s all real. But we do 20-hour days and when we finish, we’re exhausted! I detest airports and packing and unpacking – Ruth too. But if we make it look effortless, I’m glad.
Was it the same in Italy?
Oh, in Italy we were changing in grimy café toilets and sleeping in transit vans in Lake Como – around the corner from the luxury mansions! And sweating because it was so hot. There’s one brilliant pic of us in our Ford Transit van, Ruthie with rollers in her hair, and me taking 40 winks. Then, we were in a hotel at one point, and I came in and Ruth was sat on top of the air-con unit just to cool down. Italian heat and the menopause was maybe a bad combination.
Haha! Two words – George Clooney. Did you know how much Ruth fancied him?!
I did. But that’s exactly why Ruth married me, because of how similar we look, George and I. I have to live my life constantly being mistaken for Mr Clooney. It’s a burden.
Exactly how many limoncellos did they give you over there, Eamonn?!
Honestly, I have to constantly tell people they’ve made a mistake – I’m Eamonn! No, but seriously, how could anyone be jealous about George Clooney? A man has to know when he’s beaten. It’s just as well it’s me Ruth loves.
Doesn’t Ruth try to scale the gate to his mansion, attracting a local policewoman?
Oh, she turned into a total celebrity stalker. I had to tell her to calm down. This
didn’t make the cut, but there were cameras everywhere, Ruth rang the doorbell, and in Italian someone told her something like, ‘Stay away from the gate, or you will be arrested.’ Ruth’s a stickler for the rules, so she nearly had kittens.
Who’s your female celeb equivalent to George?
I only have eyes for Ruth, that’s the honest truth. Seriously, absolutely nobody springs to mind. I’ll have to think of a female celebrity I love and do one of our next programmes in pursuit of her.
Lake Como looked gorgeous, with you two on a speedboat…
It was amazing. But poor Ruth was in a terrible way for those scenes on the boat! She suffers from motion sickness – she can’t do lifts, escalators… So, she did very well to be on that boat. If it wasn’t for George, there’s no way she’d have been on one – it was the only way of getting near his villa.
You spend time in Milan – the home of designer shops. Did Ruth get any little presents from you?
You know, it was her birthday last week and it’s never easy getting Ruth a present as she’s just not a present-seeking person! What’s nice is how we could gawp at all the ridiculously priced clothes.
You got training on how to live like a ‘posh’ Italian – what did you make of it?!
Well, Ruth and I would definitely be ‘new money’ – I couldn’t see us keeping up with all that pretence, living somewhere full of period furniture. All I really need is food, air-con, satellite TV and a big, bouncy bed. I’m a man of simple pleasures, me. Ruth likes to think she’s posher than me, but she’s not really.
Could you imagine retiring to Italy?
I think I could be tempted – at least for a holiday home. It’s not even sunshine I need, it’s blue skies. I get a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder, you see. So, I could be lured to somewhere like Italy, definitely.
l Eamonn & Ruth: In Search Of George Clooney, Channel 5, Friday, 9pm