Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford had been living “separate lives” for two years before their divorce, according to a report.
Friends of the couple told The Sun that their relationship had changed after their departure from ITV’s This Morning in 2021.
On Saturday, a spokesperson for the couple confirmed they would divorce after 14 years of marriage.
The pair first began presenting This Morning together in 2006, before leaving the programme in 2021 and being replaced by Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond.
They have one son, Jack, who was born in 2002.
A source told the newspaper: “They started moving in different directions in their careers and their priorities started to change.
“Eamonn was desperate to return to Belfast, which he thinks of as home, but Ruth would never move. It became a bone of contention.
“As her ITV career continued, Eamonn went down another path and they became ships in the night.
“For the past two years they had led separate lives, professionally and personally.”
A friend told the newspaper that Holmes had endured two years that would “break most people”, including losing his mum, job, health, home and now his wife.
In 2021, he suffered with chronic pain due to a trapped sciatic nerve and was forced to undergo spinal surgery in September 2022.
Two months later, he broke his shoulder and was pictured using a wheelchair.
Friends of the couple said that Langford wanted to announce the split but Holmes was “in denial” and “never believed Ruth would take the steps to move on”.
But they added that Langford “still cares for him deeply” and helped to nurse him through his health struggles.
Holmes began working with GB News in 2022 and presents his own show on the channel.
He will present his show on Monday, but friends told The Sun that he “isn’t sure” whether to address his split with Langford on air.
Langford will not host Loose Women this week, according to the newspaper.
Holmes also has three children, Declan, Rebecca and Niall, from his first marriage.
He also presented Channel 5 programmes with Langsford including How The Other Half Lives, Do The Right Thing With Eamonn And Ruth and Eamonn And Ruth’s 7 Year Itch.
