The nation’s TV treasure

One of the nation’s longest-serving and most popular breakfast TV presenters, Eamonn Holmes balances family life and career to get the best of both worlds. The bloke from Belfast has done good. Born on 3rd December 1959, Eamonn Holmes has gone on to be one of the longest-serving breakfast TV presenters in the world. He began his broadcasting career as a farming reporter at Ulster Television and at 21 he became the youngest anchor in regional television, when he hosted Good Evening Ulster. Recalls Eamonn: “By the age of eleven, being a journalist was all I wanted. Everybody thought it was ridiculous and all a bit pie in the sky… My mother didn’t want me to do it at all – she thought I should just get a real job. If I was the assistant manager in the local Co-op, that would be the height of her dreams. But I loved it right from the start because it never felt like work to me.” He left Ulster TV to work at the BBC in Manchester – and that’s where his love affair with Manchester United football club began, despite being arrested on his first-ever visit to Old Trafford under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Today Eamonn is a trustee at the Manchester United Foundation, the associated charity of Manchester United, which uses football to engage, inspire and unite young people. The 63-year-old father-of-four is a dedicated family man, even though he has spent most of his working life going to bed early in order to be up early. “I have a magnificent job, but it would be more magnificent To advertise in The Villager and Town Life please call 01767 261122

if it was at 6pm rather than having a 2.30am wake-up call. I go to bed around 10pm but it can take an hour to get to sleep and then you realise you’ve got less than four hours until the alarm clock goes off.” Eamonn has been a co-host on GMTV, Sky News Sunrise and This Morning, with his wife Ruth Langsford. He and Ruth were engaged in March 2009 after they had been together for twelve years, and married the following year at The Elvetham hotel in Hampshire. Eamonn recalls: “Ruth was the missing jigsaw piece in my life. I was meant to be married – I never saw any joy in the bachelor lifestyle and when I met Ruth, not only did I fall deeply in love with her, but she had so many attributes that I admire. She’s a wonderful mummy to Jack, a fantastic partner both personally and professionally, and now, I’m proud to say, she’s my beautiful wife.” The much-loved TV presenters live with their son Jack in a six-bedroom mansion in Weybridge, Surrey. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Eamonn has presented a vast array of programmes including game shows, panel shows, sports events, documentaries, news and current affairs. In December last year it was revealed that Eamonn, who was made an OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours, was to join GB News. “I’ve spent my career on broadcasting firsts and start-ups, and GB News is one of the most exciting yet. To me the greatest honour in journalism is to give a voice and respect to the unheard, and that’s exactly what GB News is all about.”