‘It’s great to be back!’ Ruth Langsford on her son leaving home and returning to This Morning

With a triumphant summer return to This Morning, Ruth Langsford opens up to Jen Crothers about empty-nest syndrome, her new-found love/hate relationship with running and spending time with her mum

Ruth, 61, lives in Surrey with her husband and This Morning co-presenter, Eamonn Holmes. Their son Jack, 19, has just returned home after his first year at university. She also shares their home with beloved Border Collie cross Maggie.

MY GOOD MORNINGS

Being back in the studio for

This Morning is great. I never really felt like we’d been away! The nicest thing, of course, is seeing all the people we work with. We’ve had some really lovely messages from viewers saying it’s great to see us again. We do have a lot of fun and I’ve always loved the show, both as a viewer and a presenter. It’s always a privilege for me to present it, and to do it with Eamonn is the icing on the cake.

Television programmes change, evolve and move, or new people come in, but we didn’t leave the show. It’s just a new working pattern. It’s very nice for people to say, “We miss Eamonn and Ruth,” but Alison [Hammond] is a very good friend of ours and we found all the stories very funny. People can think what they want to think. We’re still part of the show and I’m very, very happy about that.

Eamonn and I don’t disagree on the big stuff, and that’s why I think our relationship is so strong. The fact that we’ve been together for 25 years says something, doesn’t it? Yes, we disagree, and yes, we row, but I think that’s healthy – even though it can get heated. I think that’s why so many couples relate to us. When you look back at what started a row it’s so stupid. Things escalate over something silly; maybe I slammed the car door a bit harder than I meant to, or Eamonn left the butter out and I went mad – and he was actually on his way back into the kitchen to put it away but it was too late! I’d already shouted at him.

I would defy any couple to work together and not get on each other’s nerves. This is the thing with so many television partnerships – they’re not real-life couples. They have great partnerships; Phil and Holly, Alison and Dermot, and previously, Susanna and Piers, but they don’t then go home together and argue about emptying the dishwasher. We have presented programmes when we’ve had a row loads of times, but we’re too professional to let that show!

When your loved one is in chronic pain, it’s really difficult because you feel very helpless. There’s not a lot you can do. When Eamonn has slipped discs in his back, he’s in an awful lot of pain and it’s very distressing to see. I try to offer as much support as I can, but I’m not the

most patient of nurses, I have to say! I can only do practical things, such as cook for him and make sure he’s okay, help him upstairs if he needs it. It’s an ongoing process and he’s putting a lot of work in with his physio, doing hydrotherapy and seeing a specialist. But he has a long journey ahead of him.

FLYING THE NEST

Our son, Jack, left for university last September, and he’s settled in really well.

Neither Eamonn nor I went to university, so I’m really proud of him. He’s doing broadcast journalism, following in his daddy’s footsteps, and it’s so interesting to watch him grow.

There were so many tears when Jack left.

I was bereft. I had friends who’d done this ahead of me, who said, ‘Prepare yourself for your child leaving because it’s really awful.’ I knew I’d be upset, but I thought it would be fine as I have a busy life. As it turned out, I was devastated. It was like someone tugging at my womb and it was quite a primeval feeling. The day we dropped him off, Eamonn and I agreed not to make a big deal of it, and we sat in the car and cried. I tried to be a cool mum, but I didn’t feel cool at all. It makes you remember times your own parents would worry and you thought they were boring old farts!

For a while, I had to keep Jack’s bedroom door shut so I could imagine he was in there.

One Sunday, I called up the stairs to him for dinner, as I’d forgotten he wasn’t there. You can imagine the floods of tears that came when I realised! It’s hard, as even though he’d be at school or with his mates, I saw him at least once a day and knew he was okay. It’s lovely having him home for the summer. It surprised me.

‘The day we dropped Jack off, we sat in the car and cried’