Eamonn Holmes has branded ITV “the worst” in a scathing criticism of its presenters, after joining in on a discussion about new dating show Your Mum, Your Dad.
The broadcaster, who used to host This Morning for the channel, launched the attack during his GB News morning programme on Monday (11 September).
Holmes was responding to a separate criticism made by TV personality and former I’m a Celebrity winner Christopher Biggins, who said of Davina McCall’s new dating show My Mum, Your Dad: “Who would do such a thing? What will they think of next?”
Your Mum, Your Dad follows single parents looking for love in a luxury country manor, while being watched on camera by their adult offspring.
When Holmes’s co-host Isabel Webster said she disagreed with Biggins, stating: “Why does it only have to be young and beautiful [people]?”, Holmes viewed Biggins’s comments as an opportuity to make dig at his former employers.
“I mean, ITV are the worst,” he said, before accusing the channel of re-using the same presenters. “If it’s not Ant and Dec, or it’s not Simon Cowell, or it’s not Bradley Walsh on The Chase – they’ve got no other ideas.”
The Independent has contacted ITV for comment.
Holmes’s comment has been criticised by many, with many branding it “sad” and “pathetic”.
“He was glad to be employed by them for decades,” one person wrote, with another adding: “That’s all GB News seems to do – have digs at people – institutions etc and be outraged at so many things. Pathetic. Very negative channel.”
Holmes joined This Morning in 2006 alongside his wife Ruth Langsford. The pair served as holiday cover for the main hosts, and hosted the show every Friday.
Eamonn Holmes on GB News— (GB News)
In November 2020, it was revealed that Holmes and Langsford were leaving the series in a shake-up by ITV bosses. The couple were said to be “furious and upset” by the decision, which saw them replaced by Dermot O’Leary and Alsion Hammond.
Shortly after, Holmes moved to GB News, where he has made no secret of his disdain for ITV.
He hit out at former This Morning host Phillip Schofield in February 2022, calling him “passive-aggressive” and accusing him of “snubbing people”.
Speaking about Schofield’s rumoured rift with Langsford, Holmes later said: “It’s up to Ruth to say how she felt, but I was feeling hurt for her.”
During the furore that saw Schofield quit This Morning after admitting to lying about an affair with a younger colleague working on the show, Holmes claimed Schofiled was, in fact, “sacked” by ITV, which was denied by the channel
Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes— (Getty Images)
Holmes then criticised his former colleague for “lying” and “deceiving” him and Langsford, following which Schofield shared an Instagram statement hitting out at “people with grudges”.
He claimed it was “the same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice,” adding: “This Morning is the best show to work on, with the best people. In all the years I worked there there was no toxicity.”
Holmes called Schofield’s post “delusional”, telling him: “If you are looking for a fight, you have picked the wrong person.” He then participated in a GB news interview , in which he accused ITV of “covering up” Schofield’s relationship.
He said: “Those in authority had to know what was going on and they thought they would dodge a bullet with this. With Schofield talking about those who speak out against him– namely me, Amanda Holden, Dr Ranj [Singh] as well. You simply sit there and think ‘No mate, you’ve had it all your way for too long’.”
ITV denied knowing about the relationship, and issued a statement saying it was “deeply disappointed” by Schofield, and felt “badly let down” by him.
