EAMONN Holmes and Ruth Langsford lit up our living rooms for decades on This Morning, causing the nation to fall in love with their heartwarming relationship.
And having worked alongside them on the ITV show, I can honestly say I never noticed any cause for concern.
So, I can’t help but wonder if being suddenly axed from This Morning in 2021 was the beginning of the end for their marriage.
Working with the couple on TV – often discussing relationships in my role as a behavioural psychologist – allowed me to see up close and personal how comfortable they were presenting with each other.
They certainly bickered and had differences of opinion, but it was done with warmth, ease, and affection.
They seemed to love working together and from everything I could see, it made them stronger. It was a stark contrast from many married couples who find working together to be a strain.
Of course, on the other hand, while losing the role will have dented the amount of time they spent together, the job will have brought some problems of its own.
Working together and then going home together must have made it hard to separate public and private life.
It can be difficult for a couple not on TV to make sure they focus on each other, so when your relationship is so tied up in work, it will be even harder.
Finding time to break away from the everyday and just be together was likely to be very difficult for them.
Ruth and Eamonn have always had their own strong personalities, and while that worked wonderfully for TV, it might have made things a little harder at home.
But as a more mature relationship, they would have been able to accept differences of opinion without it causing too many problems.
Mature relationship
When they were handed their marching orders from the daytime show, it will have been hard for both sides of their life – personal and professional.
While they have both thrived as individuals in the industry, Eamonn on GB News and Ruth with her Loose Women gig, it has placed them on separate schedules.
He’ll be up at the crack of dawn for his morning show, and by the time he gets back he’s likely to be exhausted.
While Ruth is starting work later and will likely have been out of the house before her husband returned.
This means finding quality time together will be difficult. It’s hard for any couple.
In fact, it’s often the beginning of the end when quality time isn’t carved out.
It sounds cliché, but date nights are important to allow couples to reconnect, and given they weren’t spotted out together for a long time before the announcement, Ruth and Eamonn probably weren’t having them.
Even just chilling on the sofa together watching TV helps secure that bond, and if they’ve been on different schedules for their work, they won’t have had that either.
Without those little moments, it’s not hard for a little tear to turn into a wide gulf very quickly. When you’ve started living separate lives, that’s game over for any relationship.
In a way, it’s entirely possible that presenting This Morning together on a Friday was their version of quality time.
They certainly got a whole morning together discussing all sorts of things. It was an anchor for them.
Pulled in different directions
While they’ve never needed each other professionally, their other roles may well have seen them start to grow apart.
Loose Women typically spends time looking at and evaluating other people’s relationships, what is good about it, what works, what doesn’t etc.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it caused Ruth to look at hers and decide that it was no longer a good fit for whatever reason.
If you spend a lot of time discussing other people’s relationships, it would be hard not to examine your own, consciously or subconsciously. I’ve heard it described as the curse of Loose Women.
Many of the ladies alongside her on the panel have been through relationship break-ups and divorces, so she’ll have a big support system there.
With the pair having different careers, they’re independent of each other financially and when it comes to TV work. Having that level of separation may have seen them grow apart even further.
They were moving in different spheres looking at different topics, and perhaps they stopped having things in common to discuss.
Health woes
On top of all that, Eamonn’s health is very likely to have been an issue, especially as he refused to allow his pain and ongoing surgeries to hold him back.
He’s had a double hip replacement, serious issues with his back and more. He’s really looked quite unwell but seems to be determined to keep going at full pelt.
That’s likely to have put strain on their relationship. While we’ve heard that Ruth has been caring for him, having someone who wants to keep going at any cost can put a real strain on a relationship.
When anyone is in pain, it makes things harder and can alter how they react to things. It can’t have been easy for Eamonn or Ruth to deal with.
If things were difficult at home, she may well have focused on work as an escape from that. Unfortunately, that can deepened the divide and make things harder instead of allowing them to grow together and heal their rift.
Ruth and Eamonn Relationship Timeline
Before the shock split announcement, Ruth and Eamonn seemed like one of the strongest couples on UK TV – even with their signature bickering style. Here's how their romance played out
1997 – The couple first meet after being introduced by mutual friends, two years after Eamonn splits from his first wife, Gabrielle, with whom he has three children.
1997-2002– To be respectful to Gabrielle, the couple kept their relationship out of the limelight. Ruth told Daily Mail: “I thought it spoke volumes about the sort of man he was, the sort of father he was and the integrity he had. It made me love him more, not less.”
2002– Ruth and Eamonn welcome their son, Jack, to the family
2005 – Eamonn finalises his divorce with Gabrielle
2006– The pair begin to host Friday episodes of This Morning together
2010– Eamonn proposes to Ruth while at the Cheltenham Races, after asking Ruth’s mother for her hand
June 2010– Eamonn and Ruth marry at Elvetham Hall, Hampshire
2016 – Eamonn undergoes a double hip replacement in the first of many health battles.
June 2019 – On This Morning, Ruth and Eamonn say the secret to their happy marriage. Eamonn credits “compromise, consideration and lots of conjugals,” while Ruth said it was “laughter and an equal marriage”
November 2020 – Ruth and Eamonn are replaced on their regular Friday slot by Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary in a ‘show shake-up’
December 2021 – After a year of being moved to the bank holiday presenting slot, both Eamonn and Ruth left This Morning
January 2022– Eamonn makes his debut on GB News, while Ruth stayed with ITV in her long-standing role on Loose Women.
September 2022 – Eamonn undergoes spinal surgery after years of back issues including a trapped sciatic nerve.
November 2022– Eamonn falls down the stairs of his Surrey home with Ruth and breaks his shoulder, requiring a new operation
September 2023 – Eamonn has a spine and neck stretching procedure as part of his year-long recovery
May 2024 – Ruth and Eamonn announce they have split after 14 years of marriage and 27 year relationship
Grief rift
Perhaps he feels like she wasn’t there enough for him as her own career has flourished, and she’s probably been out of the house a lot.
Outside of work and life directly at home, they’ve both been through a lot of grief. Eamonn recently lost his mum and Ruth lost her sister to suicide.
If they’ve been grieving separately and leaning on other people, that will only have widened the emotional gulf between them.
Grief puts a strain on any relationship and if they don’t share it and use it as an opportunity to find each other again, it can turn that gulf into a chasm.
For Ruth and Eamonn, they’ve ended up in this kind of perfect storm since leaving This Morning.
Everything will have impacted their relationship and made it harder to find each other.
