She is the woman credited with bringing a smile to the face of Eamonn Holmes as his 14-year marriage to Ruth Langsford came to a bitter end last year.
Striking and charismatic, Katie Alexander, a pretty 40-something who Eamonn had first met 12 years before his split from Ruth, seemed to be the perfect woman to help the Belfast-born broadcaster get over the recriminations and heartache of the break-up.
Including, that is, her occupation: Katie is a marriage counsellor, something that Ruth’s friends have been known to joke about, suggesting she could coach him through his own divorce.
But a year on from their first public outing, sources who know Eamonn and Katie say that if ever there was a time that they needed her skills it’s now.
For after a year of laughter and lavish holidays (including that freebie cruise last September, when just four months after separating from Ruth, he and Katie were pictured preparing to board for their romantic trip around the Med), it seems real life has kicked in.
‘Let’s just say the honeymoon period looks like it is very much at its end,’ one friend tells me, suggesting their romance is ‘struggling’.
‘He’s grumpier than ever and his health problems [he has chronic back pain] really aren’t helping but, instead of moving closer to Katie and settling, he’s spending more time with his family in Belfast, often without her.
‘The lavish gifts and the swanky holidays don’t seem to have made him any happier.’
That sentiment was echoed by some of Eamonn’s colleagues at GB News, who describe him as ‘very, very moany’ – with one saying he’s ‘a miserable goat even on a good day’.
‘He goes into GB News in the morning, and he moans and moans,’ the colleague says.
‘It seems to be fizzling out for him. He is very low – the only thing that cheers him is going to work, he loves working.’
No doubt the income is helpful too, following a battle with HMRC over a tax bill which has left him with far less money than he had hoped for in his mid-60s.
But amid his health and financial woes, it seemed the 65-year-old had found renewed romantic contentment.
Yet while, according to the source, Katie has enjoyed the spotlight that comes with being with the broadcaster, their relationship has become mired in arguments.
‘Katie loves being part of the fame thing, but while it all seems so appealing on paper, in reality it isn’t that easy,’ the pal tells me.
‘They have a very fiery and at times strained relationship.’
Last month, Eamonn and Katie, 43, appeared stony-faced as they watched his beloved Manchester United from a VIP box at the club’s Old Trafford stadium.
Eamonn was seen looking at his phone while his lover – dressed up to the nines – looked distinctly unamused.
Shortly before that, the pair were pictured together in Belfast in an outing described by a friend as ‘decidedly frosty’.
Part of the problem is logistics: after leaving the marital home in Surrey, Eamonn now rents a flat in Kingston, south-west London, and Katie spends most of the week in her native Yorkshire, where her teenage children with ex-husband George Alexander are based.
Perhaps tellingly, Eamonn recently decided against buying a new property for the pair to share.
Nor does it help that tensions surround his work. Health problems have seen him take several enforced breaks from his daily GB News show, while there was an excruciatingly embarrassing incident earlier this year when he fell off his chair live on air, prompting chaos behind the scenes.
Eamonn, who is still negotiating his divorce from Ruth, has also faced the heartbreak of a row with the couple’s son, Jack, who is embarking on his own television career.
Father and son had always been close – but Jack has sided with his mother over the split, and even Eamonn’s three older children from his previous marriage remain close to Ruth.
His relationship with Katie is said to have ‘gone down like a lead balloon’ with his family.
Claims that the pair exchanged flirty messages online when they first met more than a decade ago have aggravated the relationship, along with reports suggesting Ruth found Eamonn had been showering Katie – who is 22 years his junior – with gifts before they broke up in May last year.
However, both Katie and Eamonn insist nothing went on between them until both of their marriages had ended.
And while to their fans Ruth and Eamonn’s split came as a shock, rumours that all wasn’t well had been swirling for quite some time in showbusiness circles.
Often compared to Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, the couple were one of the country’s most-loved, hosting the Friday slot on ITV’s This Morning as well as providing holiday cover for former presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. They also had their own Channel 5 show called Eamonn And Ruth: How The Other Half Lives.
But their marriage began to break down in recent years, with Eamonn’s health and his bitter departure from ITV in 2021 – which he regarded as a ‘sly’ move by executives at the time – thought to be contributing factors.
Now, Eamonn is waiting for his divorce to come through, as well as money from the £3.6million marital home in Weybridge.
Those who know him suggest that the moment his share of the house is paid will prove ‘significant’ for him and Katie.
‘That will be when Eamonn shows Katie if he is ready to put his money where his mouth is and settle down with her for good, or not,’ a source says. ‘Many people’s money is on the latter.’
Either way, for now the couple are putting on a determined public face. Last night, they were due to attend a London Fashion Week gala at the striking Troxy venue in east London, with Eamonn set to receive a lifetime achievement gong for his charitable work. It was to be presented to him at his table as his mobility issues would prevent him from going on stage.
Sources tell me that despite their problems, there is no doubt that Katie is going to be there. Quite how long she will stay by Eamonn’s side, however, remains to be seen.
As one friend said recently: ‘A few people have long said he’s looking a bit of an old fool over this – now it seems as though he’s starting to feel it.’
