Eamonn Holmes: 'I'm edgier than most presenters'

Eamonn Holmes OBE, 62, hosts the GB News breakfast show with Isabel Webster. The Belfast-born television anchor made his first on-screen appearance in 1979 on Farming Ulster. He has since presented on GMTV and Sky News Sunrise, and co-hosted This Morning with his wife Ruth Langsford until he was axed by the programme last year. The couple live in Surrey with their son Jack. Eamonn also has three children with his first wife Gabrielle – Declan, Rebecca and Niall.

Your best childhood memories?

I was close to my maternal grandmother Fitzsimmons, who died of breast cancer. She used to take me to feed the ducks after school. She had a lot of grandchildren, but she grabbed my hand one day and said: “You do know you’re my favourite, don’t you?” It could have been the old Bruce Forsyth line, but I had a very special relationship with her.

Best thing you’ve done?

Adopting a dog changed my life. I had no interest in it, but our son desperately wanted a dog. I was cutting a ribbon for the Dogs Trust and our dog Maggie, who looks like Basil Brush, chose me. She’s lovable beyond belief. A dog gives you unconditional love and brings out the good in you – you hope you might actually become the person your dog thinks you are.

Best thing about football?

I support Manchester United and when I watch football I revert to being a child again. It’s played a big part in my life. There are lots of things I don’t have in common with my children – politics, music, fashion – but my children, my brothers and my close friends all follow United.

Best trip of your life?

The best holidays of my life have been with my children, who are now 32, 30, 29 and 20. It was a handful at the time – all bicycles, swimming and activities –but I look back on trips to Center Parcs and stays in farmhouses in Northern Ireland with great fondness.

Favourite politician?

I was impressed with Bill Clinton when I introduced him outside Belfast City Hall to speak in favour of peace in Northern Ireland in 1995. I was taken with Hillary Clinton, too. I remember thinking, “You’re good Bill – she’s amazing.” Despite so many people not liking Hillary and all the abuse against her, I’ve found her very agreeable. He is a rock star. He has charisma, more than anybody I’ve ever met. Clinton has an aura about him – a very seductive aura, for many. When I interviewed Monica Lewinsky live she said in answer to a question, “Do you know the President?” I said, “Yes I’ve met him, but unlike you, I only shook his hand.” She has a great sense of humour, and started laughing.

Best thing about joining GB News?

GB News has given me the freedom that I flourish within. I’m edgier than most news presenters, and I say things that other people wouldn’t say – never horrendously cruel, but I can be mischievous. GB News has made me feel valued and appreciated. That’s all any of us want – but I can’t pretend it’s not tough when the alarm goes off at 2:30am in the morning.

Worst thing you’ve ever seen on TV?

When I was four years old, our family gathered around the television set to watch the funeral of John F Kennedy, the first president of Irish Catholic descent. On our wall at home we had a picture of the Sacred Heart and also a picture of John and Jackie Kennedy. I remember watching my older cousins crying.

Worst interview of your career?

I had an altercation with David Cassidy on This Morning. He was bankrupt in Miami at his home, which was being auctioned that day, and became very abusive towards Ruth. She said something like “You’ve had more hits than Elvis Presley but it’s come to this today – was there a point where it all went wrong?” and he lashed out at her. I immediately came to her defence and got quite aggressive with him. We locked horns.

Worst thing about conducting George Best’s funeral?

David Cassidy was like my good friend George Best in that he had his demons. George was two different people, with or without drink. As a child I idolised him, and it was an honour beyond belief to lead his funeral ceremony at Parliament Buildings in 2005. The saddest thing was the waste of life and the waste of talent. There are certain addictions that aren’t taken seriously, but addiction to alcohol or betting is not a joke.

Worst controversy of your career?

The mid-1990s I was on the front pages of the papers because of a falling-out I had with Anthea Turner. I called her “Princess Tippy Toes”. It’s laughable now, but at the time it was deadly serious for both of us. Anthea and I have made up since, and we’re very good friends. It could have cost both of us our jobs, but the station probably secretly relished the publicity.

The worst thing about leaving This Morning?

I left This Morning with my reputation damaged, but my confidence didn’t suffer. I won’t have propaganda and lies said against me, you know – “Oh, Eamonn’s got old, Eamonn’s male, pale and stale.” One person in authority didn’t like me and had an agenda, and that was it. You don’t have to be any good in TV, you just have to have someone in authority that likes you – and I had someone in authority who didn’t like me.

Worst day of your life?

The sudden death of my father when he was 64. It was a heart attack, 31 years ago. Sudden death is a massive thing to come to terms with. That person is gone, with no goodbyes. I was filming in Israel at the time and had to make my way back from Tel Aviv to London, London to Belfast. The legacy was panic attacks. Thereafter, I associated being away or travelling with hearing bad news. They were vicious and awful. They were diagnosed as associated with grief and I had to deal with and outgrow them over the years. There was a lot of travel in my life then, and it made me claustrophobic in aeroplanes.

Worst thing about ‘woke’ culture?

It always amazes me in this “woke” world we live in that so many things are unacceptable, but yet you can make jokes about people who are bald. I opened up a paper the other day to find a picture of the back of Prince William’s head with the pun “the hair unapparent”. You can joke about baldness, weight, drink and drugs, but there’s so many things you can’t say.