Eamonn Holmes was previously married before his relationship with Ruth Langsford – but things ended with his first wife for a sad reason.
Recently, it was confirmed that Eamonn and Ruth had parted ways in a shock split after 14 years of marriage over the weekend. While the pair have drifted apart over the past couple of months, Ruth and Eamonn reportedly want to remain friends.
Prior to Ruth though, Eamonn was married to a woman called Gabrielle. But it turns out there was a sad reason it never worked out.
Eamonn Holmes’ first wife before Ruth Langsford
Eamonn married Gabrielle in 1985 and he shares three children with her – Declan, now 35, Rebecca, 33, and Niall, 31.
But after 10 years, the pair, who called Belfast their home, called it quits. And according to Eamonn, he and Gabrielle ended things because of distance.
At the time, he worked for GMTV and was separated from Gabrielle for the majority of the week. He ended up heading back to the family home in Belfast at weekends.
Eamonn Holmes on split from first wife
In his 2008 memoir, This Is My Life, Eamonn recalled how their relationship was put under strain by the distance.
I had no trouble with that – though Gabrielle obviously did.
“We tended to be apart during the week because of my job, and I had no trouble with that – though Gabrielle obviously did,” he wrote.
Eamonn added: “I always believed absence would make the heart grow fonder and, in fact, the commuting heightened my desperation for her, made the time less bearable and longer.”
‘I needed her close,’ says Eamonn
Eamonn then noted how his absences “gave my wife a life of her own, with her children, and come weekends I was intruding on it”.
What’s more, Eamonn suffered heartbreak in 1991, when his father died which led to a spiral of grief.
He recalled how he wanted to be closer to wife Gabrielle, but by that point, distance had crept in. Eamonn explained: “I needed her close, I needed her to reach me and ease my pain, but she had concerns of her own, principal of which was an impending birth.”
After his split from Gabrielle, three years later, he met Ruth through a GMTV colleague and struck up a romance.
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Read more: ‘Lonely’ Eamonn Holmes on disagreement with Ruth Langsford that plagued his marriage: ‘A big divide’
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