Eamonn Holmes' show on GB News, which he hosts with Isabel Webster, has been slapped with hundreds of complaints after comments were made about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
During an episode of Breakfast with Eamonn and Isabel, which aired on April 20, the hosts were discussing Harry's latest televised interview. He sat down with Hoda Kotb on NBC's Today show where he spoke about his recent visit to the Queen. Harry and wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, made a private visit to see the monarch and met with the Prince of Wales in Windsor earlier this month.
It came as they flew from their home in the US before travelling on to The Hague in the Netherlands where the Invictus Games, which were set up by Harry, were being held. Speaking about his meeting with the Queen, the 37-year-old prince, who stepped away from working royal duties in 2020, said: "Being with her it was great, it was just so nice to see her, she’s on great form.
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"She’s always got a great sense of humour with me and I’m just making sure that she’s protected and got the right people around her. Both Meghan and I had tea with her, so it was really nice to catch up with her."
Discussing the interview, former This Morning host Eamonn fumed: "He’s bringing a book out where he’s s****ing off Camilla and maybe William and his father. How on earth… why wouldn’t they just throw him over the balcony and her with him?"
The comments quickly received backlash online with Omid Scobie, who co-wrote the book Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family, among those to comment, tweeting that it was "vile 'commentary'".
Ofcom has now confirmed that 402 people made complaints in relation to the episode on April 20. The broadcasting watchdog also confirmed to us that the majority of complaints related to comments made about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Eamonn left his hosting role on ITV’s This Morning after 15 years in December to join GB News. The Norther Irish TV presenter had hosted the ITV daytime show alongside wife Ruth Langsford for more than a decade. The couple presented the show every Friday up until January this year and took over the main hosts in the holidays.
However, their were rumours he was set to quite after he and Ruth were replaced on the Friday slot by Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond in January 2021. Eamonn, whose career has spanned 40 years, including 12 years co-presenting GMTV and 11 years hosting Sunrise on Sky News, then made the announcement before the end of the year.
He said at the time: "I've spent my career on broadcasting firsts and start-ups, and GB News is one of the most exciting yet. It’s just the kind of shake-up the industry needs. I've admired GB News from the beginning for its clever mix of punchy debate but delivered with warmth and even some fun. To me the greatest honour in journalism is to give a voice and respect to the unheard, and that’s exactly what GB News is all about."
Earlier this month, he then told the Manchester Evening News in an exclusive interview : "One of the main reasons I wanted to join GB News was to try and provide a voice to viewers from all across the country. Too many news programmes these days get preoccupied with what’s going on in London and forget there’s a big wide world outside of the capital."
As he and Isabel had brought the show to Manchester, he added: "That’s why it’s been wonderful to meet and speak to so many people working and living in the city over the last few days. Our aim each morning is simple - to 'shine a light' on issues impacting Mancunians."
