The inside story of the war at This Morning
Ruth and Eamonn are out – but they’re just getting started
hey’re as synonymous with Fridays as fish and chips. But last week, Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford’s 14-year tenure on This Morning came to a bitter end, after it was reported they were being dropped from the line-up and replaced by Alison Hammond and Dermot O’leary. And, according to sources, they really weren’t happy about it – in fact, they were “furious and upset”, especially as they apparently hadn’t been forewarned about the ITV shake-up. Now, we’re told the telly couple are pulling out all the stops to seek revenge and come
Tback fighting. “Eamonn and Ruth feel absolutely betrayed by their This Morning family,” a source tells heat, following reports that they’re being dropped from the show’s Friday-morning slot, after ITV bosses voiced their aim to include more diversity in their TV line-up. They could still front the show from Monday to Thursday during Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield’s six-week summer break. “They’ve always been incredibly loyal to the show, and so to be axed in this way feels like a huge betrayal. It just seems a bit rich that bosses are trying to make it diverse, but they’re not changing the main faces. They feel like they’ve been made scapegoats.”
Our source adds, “They are now planning their own TV talk show to rival This Morning, hopefully on the BBC or Channel 4. They’ve had lots of offers from TV companies who are keen to snap them up, and neither of them are afraid to start a TV war, just like Richard and Judy did when they went to Channel 4. Still, they’re really angry with how they’ve been treated.”
Rumours of an ITV shake-up have been circulating for months, but Ruth and Eamonn have always stressed their allegiance to the programme. In a case of
‘The couple feel absolutely betrayed’
very awkward timing, weeks before it was reported that they were on the chopping block, Ruth said in an interview about her and Eamonn, “We’ve put the work in. We didn’t do a reality show and get an overnight job on the telly. We’ve come through the ranks.” Her comments were made before there was any suggestion that former Big Brother star Alison would be their replacement, but it still hinted at tension behind the scenes. And last week, viewers branded it “awkward” when Ruth apparently failed to say hello to Alison when she linked up with This Morning ahead of hosting Loose Women.
Rumours that the TV couple have felt underappreciated at This Morning have been around for a while. Both Ruth and Eamonn and Holly and Phil have done their best to quash rumours of a feud – even embracing each other for the cameras after Phillip came out as gay on the show in February. But the news that the Friday hosts were being axed – while the main ones remained unchanged – has once again sparked questions about unfair treatment. As heat went to press, neither ITV nor Ruth and Eamonn had commented on the stories, although Eamonn put up a picture of him and Rochelle Humes on the sofa that she had sent him, saying, “That’s when a picture is worth a thousand words.” And our source says this is far from the last we’ll be seeing of the golden couple. “One thing is for sure – they’re not finished working together on TV,” we’re told. “They feel their genuine relationship is their strong point and want to find a new home for it.” n