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If you’ve been tuning into Good Morning America for George Stephanopoulos’s response to Amy Robach and TJ Holmes‘ affair, don’t hold your breath. But while viewers shouldn’t expect the anchor to comment on the scandal on air, he’s apparently “furious” behind the scenes.
Stephanopoulos, Robach and Holmes are three of several on-air personalities on ABC’s Good Morning America. Robach and Holmes, specifically, co-anchor Good Morning America‘s late-morning program, GMA3: What You Need To Know, along with Jennifer Ashton. News broke of Robach and Holmes’ relationship in November 2022 after Page Six reported that the two had left their spouses, Andrew Shue and Marilee Fiebig, in August 2022 after a months-long affair. “They have a very cozy relationship on air, but that is what is expected. But they were very careful behind the scenes to keep their affair secret. The producers at GMA are shocked to hear they are having an affair,” a source told the site at the time.
But what were Robach and Holmes’ co-anchors’ reaction to their affair? Read on for what we know about George Stephanopoulos’ response to Amy Robach and TJ Holmes‘ affair and how other co-anchors reacted
What was George Stephanopoulos’ response to Amy Robach and TJ Holmes’ affair?
Image: Paula Lobo/ABC via Getty Images.
What was George Stephanopoulos’ response to Amy Robach and TJ Holmes’ affair? A source told The Sun on December 1, 2022, that Robach and Holmes’ Good Morning America co-hosts George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts were “furious” at their co-anchors’ “messy” affair because of the controversy it brought to Good Morning America like Today‘s scandal with Matt Lauer, who was fired from the news show after 20 years in 2017 following allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior. “George and Robin do not like this. This is very messy,” the insider said. “They prided themselves on not having a sex scandal, like Today once did with Matt Lauer.” The source continued, “They were so proud all their hosts were decent, married and committed people.”
After news broke of Robach and Holmes’ affair, Stephanopoulos was trolled on his Instagram from fans asking him to comment on his co-hosts’ scandal. “Highest ratings will be in morning… TJ and Amy! 🤣,” a user commented on Stephanopoulos’ Instagram post promoting his interview with France’s President Emmanuel Macron. Another user commented, “We wanna hear about the affair.” One more user commented, “So TJ and Amy??? Y’all gonna address it…. Or what?” Another wrote, “I wanna take off of work tomorrow just to see if TJ and Amy come to work!!! 🤤”
A source told Page Six on December 2, 2022, that rumors of Robach and Holmes’ affair among the Good Morning America staff date as far back as 2017. The insider reported that Holmes, who was newer to ABC News than Robach at the time, was so concerned about the rumors that he took the issue to executives at the network. “He was a correspondent at the time, and he didn’t want Robin thinking that about him. He went to [ABC News executives] and got ahead of it to dismiss it because it wasn’t true,” the insider said. A third source explained to Page six that Holmes went to Good Morning America executive producer Michael Corn to tell him the rumors were “absolutely not true.” The insider continued, “It freaked them out. Amy and T.J.’s friendship took a hit when the rumors started.”
As for other ABC News anchors, a source told Page Six on December 12, 2022, that Robach’s 20/20 co-anchor David Muir “wants no part” in her scandal with Holmes. “He’s not having it. He’s the face of the evening news and nothing about him ever makes it into the papers. He’s very private and no one at ABC likes the way Amy and T.J. handled it,” the insider said. The source continued, “Every anchor is upset that Amy and T.J. have caused such drama.” Page Six also reported that Robach and Muir aren’t “close” and hinted that her affair with Holmes has only made their relationship worse. “No one wants to be associated with this, and Amy and David already aren’t that close right now,” the source said.
A representative for ABC News, however, denied Page Six’s report about Muir’s reaction “David is focused on the work, not any of this,” the representative said in a statement to Page Six. Sources also told Page Six that several staffers at ABC News were “very unhappy” with a joke Robach and Holmes made on GMA3 about them having a “great week” after their affair was exposed. “If the decision is to not address it, then don’t address it! T.J. made light of it on-air. Amy’s smarter than that, but how else is she supposed to respond?” one insider said. “She’s a serious hard news journalist, and this is a major distraction.” The source continued, “Becoming co-anchor of 20/20 was very important to her. She was obsessed with getting that job. This affair is bringing her down and changing her reputation.”
A source also told Entertainment Tonight at the time that Robach is “feeling” the negative effects of the affair more than Holmes. “Amy has always been a highly revered journalist, who’s professional and good at her job. There’s no doubt she’s feeling it from all sides. She loves her job, and has worked hard to cement her place as a staple at ABC,” the insider said. “T.J. tends to approach life a little less seriously.”
Another source told The Sun on December 1, 2022, that Robach and Holmes could be demoted on Good Morning America as a result of their affair. “There is no way they are going to be able to stay at GMA,” the insider said. “They may not be outright fired, but they’ll be relegated to lesser roles, which will make it undesirable for them to continue.” The Sun also reported that Robach and Holmes’ affair may have also broken a “morality clause,” which states that talent must “act at all times with due regard to public morals and conventions,” according to a copy of the document obtained by the newspaper. The clause also stated that talent shall not take part in behavior “which tends to bring you or us into public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule….or which might reflect unfavorably upon us, or injure the success of the programs.” The clause continued, “We may terminate this Agreement upon notice to within thirty (30) days after we acquire knowledge thereof.”
A source also confirmed to Page Six on December 1, 2022, that Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, which owns ABC, learned of Robach and Holmes’ relationship on November 29, 2022, a day before it became public.“Bob Iger was notified about the affair on Tuesday, and he has been in close contact with ABC News president Kim Godwin,” the source said. “Their decision is a ‘watch and wait’ approach.” The insider continued, “Amy and T.J. are peers, they — quite obviously — have great chemistry on TV. They are both separated from their spouses. They are free to be a couple.” The source also added, “In some ways, this is TV gold, but let’s just hope they don’t break up.”
While Iger learned of Robach and Homes’ affair recently, a source told People at the time that the co-hosts’ relationship was “widely known” by Good Morning America employees, so much so that they were told to “knock off” their flirty behavior before their relationship became public. “There were so many people internally that were unhappy about it,” the insider said. “They were flirtatious.” Another source also told People that there were rumors of an affair between Robach and Holmes in 2021, a year before their relationship became public. “There were rumors they were having an affair about a year ago,” the source said. “A lot of people believed there might have been some truth to it, because you can see there’s a mutual affection there. But everyone ultimately chalked it up to friendship because they always said they were both happily married.”
How did Amy Robach and TJ Holmes’ affair start?
Image: Lou Rocco/ABC via Getty Images.
How did Amy Robach and TJ Holmes’ affair start? Page Six reported on November 30, 2022, that Good Morning America hosts, Amy Robach and TJ Holmes, left their spouses in August 2022 after a months-long affair. Robach was married to actor Andrew Shue since 2010, while Holmes was married to lawyer Marilee Fiebig since 2010. A source told Page Six at the time that Robach and Holmes’ affair started in March 2022 after they began training together for the New York City Marathon, which they were photographed together at on November 6, 2022, less than three weeks before news broke of their affair. A source told People on December 1, 2022, that their romance started when Holmes helped Robach through a past “heartache” she was experiencing. “Amy was going through a heartache and TJ was very much there for her and helpful, and that is when they started something,” the insider said.
Page Six reported that the GMA hosts were seen “canoodling” in bars near ABC News’ office in New York City in May 2022. “They have a very cozy relationship on air, but that is what is expected. But they were very careful behind the scenes to keep their affair secret. The producers at GMA are shocked to hear they are having an affair,” a source told Page Six at the time. The Daily Mail also reported that rumors of Robach and Holmes’ affair first sparked in June 2022 “when they were in London together filming the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee for ABC and staff were buzzing about the intimacy between them,” a source said. The insider added, “Everyone knows that Amy and T.J. have been close friends for a long time now, running together and even socializing as a foursome with each other’s spouses.” People also reported that many ABC News staffers, including the head of ABC News, Kim Godwin, knew of Robach and Holmes’ affair before it went public. “[It was] the worst kept secret in ABC News,” the source said. “”They had no shame going out together and have been publicly doing this for much longer than a month. Staffers are very surprised it took this long to come out. Everyone was turning a blind eye because they didn’t want the controversy surrounding the show.” Another insider told People that Robach and Holmes’ relationship was “widely known” by Good Morning America employees, so much so that they were told to “knock off” their flirty behavior before their relationship became public. “There were so many people internally that were unhappy about it,” the insider said. “They were flirtatious.”
Another source also told People at the time that there were rumors of an affair between Robach and Holmes in 2021, a year before their relationship became public. “There were rumors they were having an affair about a year ago,” the source said. “A lot of people believed there might have been some truth to it, because you can see there’s a mutual affection there. But everyone ultimately chalked it up to friendship because they always said they were both happily married.” Another source, however, denied the affair to People at the time and claimed that Robach and Holmes’ romance didn’t start until after they separated from their spouses. “This was two consenting adults who were each separated. They both broke up with their spouses in August within weeks of each other,” the insider said. “The relationship didn’t start until after that.” The source continued, “She’s got nothing to hide. They were both separated so they felt very comfortable dating in the open after that. Their spouses had moved out, even! So they were not hiding anything.”
Robach restricted comments on her Instagram around November 2022 when fans noticed she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring in photos and hadn’t posted her husband for a while. Both Robach and Holmes have since deleted their Instagram accounts.
News broke of Robach and Holmes’ affair on November 30, 2022, after The Daily Mail published photos of the GMA hosts at O’Donoghue’s Irish Bar in New York City, near where Robach and Holmes film Good Morning America, where they were seen flirting with each other on November 10, 2022. A source told The Daily Mail at the time that Robach and Holmes went to the pair after filming a daily pre-recorded segment of Good Morning America. The Daily Mail reported that Robach and Holmes left ABC Studios separately and walked alone to the bar, where they reunited at a far corner in the restaurant. “They were totally into each other. She was giggling at whatever he was saying, and they were looking at each other’s phones. At one point she was kind of dancing in her chair to the music and laughing so hard she practically fell into his lap,” a source told The Daily Mail at the time. When they left, Robach stood about 20 feet away from Holmes on the sidewalk as he called an Uber. When the Uber, Robach and Holmes got in together and rode to Holmes’ downtown Manhattan apartment, where Robach was not seen leaving.
The next day, Holmes was seen leaving his apartment with a backpack and duffle bag. He was also seen going to a restaurant near Robach’s West Village apartment after they filmed their morning segment of Good Morning America. After he ate alone at the restaurant, Holmes walked around the corner and repeatedly looked over his shoulder before continuing up the block, where Robach was waiting to pick him up in her blue BMW convertible, according to The Daily Mail. Robach and Holmes then drove two hours north to the city of Shawangunk Mountains, New York, where they checked into a remote cottage on the edge of Minnewaska State Park, where they brought their own food to cook and wine and beer to drink.
When they left, Holmes could be seen grabbing and patting Robach’s butt as she bent over to load their bags and their leftover food and drinks into her car. Days later, while recording a segment on robes without Holmes for Good Morning America on November 16, 2022, Robach referenced her co-host’s love for robes. “I wish TJ was here,” Good Morning America contributor Tory Johnson said during the segment, to which Robach responded, “He loves his robes. He walks around the hallways with them.” A day later, on November 17, 2022, Holmes and Robach were seen again at New York University Langone, where Holmes was seen leaving with Robach and her best friend, who walked Robach’s golden doodle, Brody, while Holmes stayed in Robach’s apartment with her, according to The Daily Mail.
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Image: Ballantine Books.
For more about Amy Robach, read her 2015 memoir, Better: How I Let Go of Control, Held On to Hope, and Found Joy in My Darkest Hour. The book, which became a New York Times bestseller, takes readers through Robach’s journey with breast cancer, with started in September 2013 when she had an on-air mammogram on Good Morning America to promote Breast Cancer Awareness month and was officially diagnosed with breast cancer three weeks later. The book also recounts the moment Robach and her husband at the time, Andrew Shue, learned of her diagnosis, how they told their two young daughters and the bilateral mastectomy and six months of chemotherapy treatments that followed to save her life. Robach “lays bare the emotional toll of her experience and mines her past for the significant moments that gave her the resilience to face each day. And she describes the incredible support network that lifted her when she hit bottom,” reads the publisher’s description.
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