Ruth Langsford used to host This Morning on Fridays alongside her husband Eamonn Holmes. However, the couple left the ITV talk show in 2021. Since then, Ruth has appeared on ITV’s Loose Women, while Eamonn is a host on GB News.
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Sadly, for the last few years, things have not been easy for the couple as Eamonn has been dealing with several health issues that have greatly impacted his life as well as Ruth’s. Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford have been married since 2010 but have been a couple since 1997.
While talking about their relationship, the two had often been quite cheeky and talked about their very intimate relationship. However, now, in May 2024, a spokesperson for the couple announced their decision to divorce. It comes after weeks of rumours concerning the state of their relationship.
Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford set to divorce
On Saturday 25 May 2024, a spokesperson representing the couple confirmed their divorce. They said:
[Ruth and Eamonn have] confirmed their marriage is over and they are in the process of divorcing
Talking to The Independent, the couple's representative stated that the two are 'determined to stay friends and keep things amicable'. The publication also understands that the presenters are working on a joint statement that they will share on social media.
Ruth Langsford opens up about Eamonn Holmes's health
As mentioned earlier, Eamonn Holmes has been dealing with several health issues for the last few years. His soon-to-be-ex-wife appeared on Loose Women and opened up about its impact on them.
Prior in 2024, Ruth told fellow Loose Women host Linda Robinson and the others that Eamonn has been ‘needing a lot of help’ recently due to his several operations and falls.
The last two years, you know; back operations, falling down the stairs, crutches, wheelchairs. You know needing a lot of help.
She added that looking after Eamonn during this difficult period is part of marriage as she took her vows ‘in sickness and in health’. She explained that it’s what you do when ‘in a partnership’ and you hope they would return the favour. As per Express, Ruth helped her husband get dressed.
She said, as per Express:
But that is what you do, in sickness and in health. You love somebody and you are in a partnership with them, and you would like to think they would do the same thing back.
Eamonn Holmes has several health issues
It isn’t news that Eamonn Holmes has several health issues, indeed the TV presenter has been very open in the past concerning his health. Eamonn has had back pain since 2021 and has been seen using a walking stick because of it.
Holmes had three slipped discs in his back that affected the movement in his right leg, explaining the need for a walking stick. In 2022, he underwent surgery, which went well, but eventually, the GB News presenter had a weakened left leg.
Two weeks after his surgery, Eamonn fell backwards down 18 stairs in his home, as per Daily Mail. Due to the gravity of the fall and the fact that Holmes hit a stone floor at the bottom of the stairs, he ended up breaking his shoulder and both of his legs were weakened.
Eamonn Holmes’ health issues sadly made him miss his mother’s funeral, as reported by Express. Holmes also revealed to The Irish Independent that he was confined to a wheelchair after a back operation went wrong and he was told he may not be able to walk.
In the past year I’ve had an operation on my back which went wrong and has confined me to a wheelchair. I’ve fallen and broken my shoulder. Honestly, you could not make it up.
Eamonn Holmes and Ruth's marriage thought to be strong
Though the Loose Women presenter had expressed that the last few years had been difficult for the both of them, the two regularly still showed that time and health have nothing against their bond. In 2010, right around the time of their wedding, the two sat down with The Sun. As usual, they were candid about their chemistry. Holmes even went further and talked about what would happen if they weren't married.
He explained:
If we weren’t married I would like her and we would be friends and I would want an affair with her. I genuinely would.
I would have real trouble working with her because there would be sexual tension,
In another interview, Ruth Langsford gushed over her now ex-partner:
I walked into a room recently and this man was sitting there with his sunglasses on and I thought, ‘Oh he’s hot!’ and it was Eamonn reading his paper.
For a second I hadn’t realised it was my husband. That chemistry is funny and interesting.
They also enjoyed their time apart
In 2019, Express revealed that the couple, though they obviously care for each other very much, preferred not to sleep in the same bed. However, at the time they specified that the reason for that decision had nothing to do with romance. Instead it had to do with their taste in TV.
A few years later, in 2022, Langsford gave an interview with Hello! and compared their relationship to the one of King Charles and Queen Camilla. She explained:
I read recently that Camilla said that she and Prince Charles often sit in companionable silence in the same room just reading their books.
Time alone that should have lasted in death
In October 2023, in an interview with Coleen Nolan for Mirror's campaign with Co-op funeral care to break the stigma around grief and death, Eamonn Holmes made a shocking revelation: he and Ruth did not plan on being buried together.
He stated:
We have a family plot in Belfast where my mum and dad are and there’s room for four more others. Ruth would rather be somewhere anonymous in Surrey.
Adding,
She wants to be cremated and I don’t want to be cremated. She doesn’t care - she’s not religious, and she’s not interested in sentimentality.
Holmes further explained that he is the opposite and shared his very specific plan for his funeral. He said that he wants whoever attends to 'be dressed in black, like a uniform'. He also wants his funeral to take place in Belfast, in the church where he was baptised.
Read more:
⋙ Eamonn Holmes: The presenter forced to sell his Belfast home after being billed £250,000
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Sources used:
Express: ‘Ruth Langsford fights tears on Loose Women as she makes Eamonn health confession’
Daily Mail: ‘Eamonn Holmes reveals he 'can't walk' and is 'not good' as he gives worrying health update... one year after spinal surgery and subsequent horrific fall’
Irish Independent: ‘Eamonn Holmes: I was forced to sell my beloved Belfast home to pay the taxman’
Express: Eamonn Holmes admits he 'would have an affair' in Ruth Langsford marriage admission
Hello!: Ruth Langsford reveals Eamonn Holmes marriage is just like these royals
Mirror: Eamonn Holmes says he won't be buried with wife Ruth when they die
The Independent: Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford to divorce after 14 years
