Former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes has suggested why he thinks he was axed from the ITV magazine show after 15 years. The outspoken GB News host, who has made a number of claims about Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield in recent weeks, was booted from This Morning in late 2020.
Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary later replaced Ruth and Eamonn on Friday editions of This Morning, although Ruth continues to work for ITV on other shows, including Loose Women. In a new interview with his current employer, Eamonn has claimed he was sacked from This Morning for comments he made about 5G.
Before Eamonn's exit from the show, Ofcom received more than 750 complaints about the presenter, who questioned why the "mainstream media" had dismissed supposed links between the pandemic and 5G, The Mirror reports. During his bombshell GB News interview, Eamonn claimed that he was axed "without warning" and that the bosses at ITV were "never kind" to him.
Eamonn alleged: "They weren't kind when they tossed me out of the door and didn't care where I was going."
The outspoken broadcaster claimed that there did "seem to be a political element" because he "wasn't found guilty of anything". But he added that the controversial comment was enough to get him fired.
Recalling what it was he said that led to his sacking, Eamonn reflected: "I said, 'You should always be free to question the narrative'. Apparently, that was the equivalent of me saying, '5G spreads Covid'."
Ofcom concluded at the time that Eamonn's comments were "ill-judged" because the claims "lacked the support of any scientific, or other, evidence". A spokesperson for the regulatory authority said: "In our view, the presenter's ambiguous comments were ill-judged, and risked undermining viewers' trust in advice from public authorities and scientific evidence.
"After taking into account the co-presenter's firm rejection of the claims earlier in the programme, the discussion being about 'fake news' and the presenter clarifying his comments on air the following day, we have decided to issue guidance to ITV and its presenters."
Eamonn took aim at viewers, blasting them for "misinterpreting" his comment. He previously told The Mirror: "I still stand by those remarks because not once did I say 5G spreads coronavirus.
"I said that as reporters, we should always question the narrative. And that has never been more obvious than under the No10 regime that has existed from then and beyond.
"I wish somebody would show me the email or the letter or that I was sent to say, 'Eamonn, this is why this is coming to an end'. But to tell lies, that I left them to go to GB News... I didn't - they left me.
"Let's get it straight. They left me. I don't care, because our audience is only up."
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