Sultansofbling
As the down-to-earth TV favourites take us back into the world of the mega-wealthy, they tell us that riches are all very well but friends, family and good health are far more important
ON SCREEN, Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes clearly adore each other but aren’t shy of a little bickering – just as they are off screen.
Nothing changes when the camera’s red light goes off, which explains why they have been together for 21 years.
It’s one reason why their series Eamonn and Ruth: How The Other Half Lives has become a huge success on Channel 5.
Now in its third series, the down-to-earth couple get to see inside the world of the uber-wealthy, staring in amazement together while having an occasional, goodnatured little dig at each other.
When we caught up with them, Eamonn had just ordered Ruth out of the room.
It’s no spat, he’s simply excited to share what he’s bought his presenter wife for their forthcoming seventh wedding anniversary.
“You haven’t done something extravagant again, have you?” she said, closing the door behind her.
“As you can see, I’m the romantic one,” said Eamonn. “Ruth’s answer is, ‘You better not have done anything’, but if I haven’t done anything...
“What I have done is got her a recreation of her wedding bouquet, which was a drape over her arm, so I will get the same flowers, which are white roses, in a bouquet.
“Not that she’ll even remember what she had…”
Having just clocked off from their regular Friday hosting slot on ITV’s This Morning, the duo are on top form.
It’s this viewer relatability that has secured them a number of joint TV projects, with How the Other Half Lives the pick of them.
They take viewers on a gasp-worthy journey into the lives of the world of billionaires, from staying in multimillion-pound mansions to driving the most expensive cars and
rubbing shoulders at exclusive parties.
It’s an existence the couple, both 57, still find hard to comprehend.
Ruth said: “It’s still gobsmacking. Some of the wealth is wealth beyond your wildest dreams. It’s so unattainable that it almost becomes comical.
“We all love to think, ‘If I won the lottery I’ll do this and I’ll pay off my sister’s mortgage and I’ll have a nice car...’ but these are billionaires and they’re multi-billionaires.
“We were expecting not to like a lot of people and it’s been the complete opposite.
“People have been so nice and we’re not here to judge people, to be disrespectful, to sneer or to laugh at them.”
It has left Eamonn, who is feeling better than ever after a double hip replacement last year, with food for thought.
The former GMTV and Sky News anchor said: “Ruthie and I never come home from one of these trips and say, ‘Oh, I wish we had this, I wish we had that’, because, as Ruth always says, ‘There’s only so many cars you can have, what size of a house do you need?’
“But I have a shopping list – I’m only human. And the top of my list would be a chef.”
Turning to face him, Ruth said: “Hello? How insulting.”
“See, that is the typical reaction you get,” Eamonn said with a chuckle. “It would be for my wife and myself.
“I would like to wake up, come down in my dressing gown and have someone say to me, ‘Mr Holmes, would you like some crushed avocado on toast, a poached egg perhaps?’
“I’d have a private plane or helicopter or both, because I am done with airports,” he added, referring to himself as “unashamedly bling”.
“I’m addicted. I now go into an airport and go ‘Oh, can we not go private?”’ the Northern Irish presenter added.
Ruth isn’t keen on the idea of full-time staff.
She said: “I wouldn’t like the lack of privacy. In so many homes we went to, there were times when I felt like I was in a hotel, there were so many staff milling about.
“We have help – I have a cleaner and we’ve had a nanny for Jack (the couple’s son, now 15) over the years, but my home is my home, it’s not a business to me.”
“That’s because you’re very ordinary, darling,” said Eamonn, joking. “You’re a very ordinary person.
“I think staff is the most amazing thing. I think you’re really rich if you’ve got staff.”
But while wish lists are one thing, the Surrey-based couple can get on board with, the socialising with the wealthy certainly isn’t.
Eamonn said: “We mix in a world where it’s very hard to get real friends or close friends for a number of reasons.
“I do know a lot of people in our business who suck up to other people who are wealthier or have patronage, just to go on holiday with them.
“We’ve been asked to attend things but we would never just socialise with billionaires because we were invited.
“It would be quite the reverse with us, because we’re very honest, as in, ‘Are you really my friend?’
“Maybe we’re just not very sociable.”
Ruth said: “The thing I found fascinating is that retirement is a dirty word to most of the people on the show.
“Before we did this series, I would have said, ‘If I win the EuroMillions, you wouldn’t see me for dust.
“I feel very differently now, because so many people that we asked say, ‘How boring. You might as well just give up and die.”’
Eamonn said: “In short, it teaches you a lot about yourself.
“What we’ve learned is if you don’t have your health, whoever you are, you have no wealth at all.” ● Eamonn and Ruth: How The Other Half Lives is on Channel 5 on Monday at 9pm.