Eamonn Holmes is best known for his 15-year stint on the This Morning sofa with his wife, Ruth Langsford.
But ask Eamonn Holmes’ latest “TV wife” if she feels any pressure to follow in Ruth’s footsteps and she smiles.
“Eamonn and Ruth are family to me,” Isabel Webster beams.
“I don’t see it as following in Ruthie’s footsteps at all because in the past, he was still working with Ruth while we were co-presenting Sky. We have such a lot of respect for one another.”
Isabel, 39, who’s been co-presenting GB News Breakfast with 62-year-old Eamonn since the start of the year, revealed Ruth sends her regular messages of support.
And she told how Eamonn has kindly supported her family through sickness, despite his own health battles.
The TV presenter’s struggle with back pain has been well documented – and even threatened their first GB News Breakfast show together.
And having a gentle pop at ITV for dropping him, she admits: “Their loss is our gain.”
On screen, Isabel and Eamonn have an ease and familiarity that can only come with years of knowing someone.
The pair co-presented Sky News’ breakfast programme Sunrise from 2014 to 2016.
But Isabel had already got to know Eamonn after joining Sky as the West of England correspondent in 2011.
She would often stand in for Eamonn’s then co-presenter Charlotte Hawkins, or do inserts on their show.
Eamonn also attended Isabel’s 2014 wedding to hedge fund manager Liam Pearce, 38, and was one of the first to hold their son William, now six.
Isabel, who is also mum to four-year-old Poppy, says: “I think the phrase Ruth uses to Eamonn is, ‘Isabel seems to handle you well’. I think she is pleased I can cope with him and enjoy his company.
“She posts most mornings to say that she’s watching us and often messages me to say she loves my dress.
“A few weeks ago, I accidentally almost swore on air and she messaged to say, ‘All right, potty mouth! I’ve done that as well… don’t worry’.”
Recently, Eamonn has been a tower of support to Isabel’s family after her dad Sinclair, 73, developed a spinal injury and her mum Stephanie, 72, had three heart attacks.
Isabel says: “Eamonn has sat in my kitchen talking to my mum after she saw dad through major surgery.
"She was telling Eamonn all about dad’s surgeon and because of Eamonn’s back troubles they were swapping tips on scans and things – like comparing war stories, I suppose.
“I think it was a bit like therapy for them, to talk about it all. Like my father, he is very brave. He’s hard as nails.”
Eamonn has also seen Isabel struggle to balance being a mum with having a high-profile career, for which she has to get up for work in the middle of the night.
“Yes, he’s seen me cry,” she says.
“I know I could call him in the middle of the night if I had a crisis.
"We often have a huddle in the make-up room with the make-up artists before we go on air and have a bit of a bitch about what’s going on in our lives – a bit of a gossip.
"He constantly helps and looks after me in a protective way.
“Yesterday, my four-year-old woke two times in the night. It got to 2am and I got fed up of going up and down to my daughter’s bedroom so I just climbed in her cot and lay there until it was time to get up for work.
“After, I went to a tea then a BAFTA event and, of course, I’m paying for it today.
“I felt absolutely broken but Eamonn is a dad with kids… he’s so sweet and respectful because he knows that family is my absolute priority and my reason for doing all of this.”
Isabel chuckles as she reveals her mother-in-law is a “mega” Eamonn fan who messages her whenever they’re on air.
The Northern Irishman has also won over the rest of Isabel’s family. “The kids call him ‘Uncle Eamonn’,” she says.
“They kiss the TV when he comes on… they don’t take any notice of me!
“When he comes to pick me up to take me to events and we’re all dressed up, he fills the pockets of his dinner jacket with sweets and hides them all around the garden.
“Then, when he arrives, the kids come running to the front door.
"It’s like Father Christmas has just turned up. It’s a nightmare for whoever is looking after the kids because he revs them up then off we go!”
Isabel is very protective of Eamonn – and that came to the fore when she feared for his health, just days before going live with their first show.
“I’ve seen him at his best and at his worst,” she says. “At Sky, he went off to have a hip operation and more recently he’s had absolute chronic pain.
“ He was rock bottom last year. Of course I’ve seen him struggling and I worry about him, and it’s sad too.
“I’m protective of him and I want to look after him so he can keep on doing this show.
“The Thursday before the launch in the actual studio, while we were all together, he put his back out and you could just see he’d done it. It was really scary.
“It plagued him with agony for weeks and weeks but you wouldn’t know it because he would go on air and just get on with it.
“During the ad breaks, he’d be getting up and trying to stretch but he was really struggling with his stick.
“Fortunately, this morning he came bolting down the corridor and there was not a stick in sight so he’s definitely making a recovery.”
Isabel affectionately calls Eamonn “a loose cannon” and it’s easy to see why.
Recently, live on air, he turned to her during a haunted house segment and shouted “Boo!” in her ear, making her jump.
“I am very lucky to have him as a colleague, even if he can be a bit of a nightmare with all his gags,” Isabel jokes.
“Hand-on-heart, we have the sort of relationship where I can say whether he’s annoyed me. I think I probably said it to him multiple times this morning!
“He was telling me off for saying ‘of course’ recently and we can forget we’re on air and turn into bickering old friends. But he can take it, and that’s a relief.
“He’s a complete loose cannon but that’s what makes him so interesting and dynamic – so from that sense, we’re a very good, complimentary pair.”
She adds: “People shouldn’t assume they know everything about GB News.
"We aren’t about conspiracy theories and we’re not wild or crazy like a UK version of Fox News – we are a proper breakfast news programme.
"I think probably the biggest difference between GMB and us is that we are not aggressive when it comes to the main political conversations.”
Isabel also says she was surprised by ITV’s decision to let Eamonn go last year – after 15 years on flagship show, This Morning.
“Their loss is GB News’ gain,” Isabel says. “I’m thrilled we have him, but I can’t think what on Earth they were doing.
“He’s got more experience in live television than anyone else in this country that I can think of.
“I’m blessed to be working with him.”
Isabel and Eamonn appear on GB News Breakfast, 6-9.30am Mondays to Thursdays
