Eamonn Holmes has revealed he was conned out of thousands after falling victim to ID theft.
The broadcaster returned to GB News on Monday after four months away from screens as he recovered from several health issues.
Speaking to his co-host Isabel Webster, the presenter detailed the harrowing scam and revealed that an imposter was “using his name” while living it up at a luxury hotel.
He shared: “In Belfast, there may only be one Eamonn Holmes, yet a guy was able to go and live in a hotel using my name for two solid weeks at the top hotel in Belfast.
“No one thought of saying, ‘you’re not as handsome as Eamonn Holmes, you just couldn’t be Eamonn Holmes but he went and he lived in a central Belfast hotel for two weeks.’”
The 63-year-old added the scammer also “stole a lot of money” out of his account and bought “all sorts of things”.
He continued: “And then he bought building materials, slabs, concrete, marble fireplaces, all sorts of things.
“At the end of this, the judge said it’s a victimless crime so he wasn’t sent away.
“The judge basically thought that I should meet up with this guy and reconcile with him, whatever it is, and I basically told him where to stick it,” the TV star added.
“It isn’t a victimless crime. You begin to suspect people around you, people who work for you,, all sorts of things. So you suspect lots of things and there’s the stress about it.
“I was very lucky in the fact that the bank reimbursed me but the idea that this is victimless is wrong.”
Holmes’ shocking incident comes after he confirmed his return to the channel over the weekend following his recovering from back surgery.
Sharing a video on social media, the former This Morning presenter shared: “After nearly four months away off the telly, I’m back tomorrow which sounds like a threat doesn’t it!
“You may or may not be aware of what happened to me. I had some back surgery because I’ve had disc problems for a year and a half or so and the surgery affected one of my legs, which led to me falling down stairs, and breaking my shoulder.
“So I had a leg that didn’t work, and a shoulder that didn’t work – and lots of other things in between.”
Poking fun at how he spent his time off recovering, he joked: “I feel that there are only so many box sets I can watch or recommend to you!
“I’m not better, but I’m better than I was. And I’ve decided to make an attempt to go back to work on GB news from tomorrow. This is on the basis that work, hopefully, will help to heal me.”
