He was once hailed as daytime television royalty, watched by millions and with a salary to match.
But now, life for struggling presenter Eamonn Holmes has become so tough that he is no longer as popular with his colleagues as he once was.
For those who he works with at GB News, where he hosts the breakfast show, tell me that he is often ‘in a foul mood’ and ‘increasingly clashing with colleagues’ at the station – as he struggles to navigate the financial woes that he says have ruined him.
Eamonn confessed last week that he is being made to pay a further £250,000 for an outstanding tax bill after HMRC demanded back pay from when he claimed to be a freelancer, with the authority insisting he wasn’t during his days hosting Sky’s Sunrise morning show.
Eamonn has recently battled a raft of health problems, a messy divorce from wife Ruth Langsford, and this week admitted his clashes with HMRC are continuing to blight him despite already repaying more than £1 million.
And sources say the breakfast star, 65, now regularly snaps under the mounting pressure, despite moving on with therapist girlfriend Katie Alexander, 43, with insiders admitting he is ‘in a difficult place’.
When lashing out at the tax man this week, he described HMRC’s pursuit of him as ‘thievery’ as it is demanding ten years of back taxes after he used a freelance loophole to avoid paying conventional income tax.
Speaking in his native Northern Ireland, Holmes said: ‘They still want another quarter of a million pounds off me… I’ve paid them more than a million already, but they won’t stop. It’s still going on and they want another £250,000. They’ve ruined me.
‘They came after me and said: “We always said that you were self-employed? Well, we’ve thought about it, you’re not, so we want ten years of back taxes and national insurance.” So they basically, at the most vulnerable time of my life, wrecked me financially.’
He added: ‘I’ve had to sell my house in Belfast. I had a place in Portugal and had to sell it. I still owe them a quarter of a million quid even now.
‘I went back and appealed it twice and lost it twice. And lawyers fees are absolutely horrendous.
‘So that was something, on top of my health matters, I had this tax situation which is still not over yet. It is thievery.’
But despite speaking candidly about the situation, those who work with him at GB News say he is ‘clearly struggling’ with the mounting pressure on his shoulders.
As one source tells me: ‘It feels like everything is coming to a head. What happens on screen and what happens off-screen are very different.
‘When the cameras roll, Eamonn still switches it on, but away from that it’s very messy. He’s in a foul mood, and everyone behind the scenes feels it.
‘He is clashing with people all the time – and now that it’s become clear he is still in a huge amount of trouble with the tax man, it all becomes clear.
‘People’s patience is wearing a bit thin.’
Eamonn has worked on TV for GB News, Sky News, ITV, BBC, Channel 4, and Channel 5, and written for the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror during his career.
But some of his friends are now urging him to move back to Ireland and ‘be a star there’.
‘He will have a much nicer life,’ said one. ‘But it seems like he’s clinging on to the fame in England. It’s all very sad.’
His divorce from Ruth remains increasingly fractious, with the financial turmoil still growing as they struggle to separate their complicated network of business interests and assets.
While Eamonn remains in hot water with the tax man, Ruth’s business boasts more than £1 million in cash in the bank according to her latest accountancy figures, while they also remain joint directors and shareholders in another shared business, Holmes and Away Ltd.
That legal entity holds around £10,000 in assets according to the most recently published figures, signed off by Eamonn, with around £65,000 owed back from its directors.
Eamonn and Ruth were once the golden couple of daytime TV, but today it appears that both their futures are on hold due to money pressures (his, not hers).
From 2006 onward, they brightened up This Morning’s Fridays – and stepped in for Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby during the holidays – quickly becoming one of the nation’s most cherished presenting duos.
But the shine began to fade. In 2020, after 15 years on the sofa, the presenter, 65, was abruptly shown the door by ITV.
And the Daily Mail recently told how Eamonn has separated from his management company InterTalent after three years – having joined the firm headed up by legendary showbiz agent Jonathan Shalit in the wake of his split from Ruth, in order to distance their careers.
It came amid growing rumours of his increasingly grumpy behaviour, described by one colleague as ‘a miserable goat’, and a further blow of being dropped from a long-standing gig hosting a major Irish awards event after organisers became increasingly frustrated by his physical limitations.
He was replaced at the helm of The Irish Post Awards for the first time since 2013 by fellow broadcaster Ryan Tubridy.
A source said of the change: ‘The truth is that Eamonn is an Irish legend, but things didn’t really go well last time – and it’s felt that it’s time he moved over for the more appropriate talent waiting in the wings.
‘This time around, it just felt foolhardy to stick with him even though he’s been such a big part of things for so long.’
Eamonn spoke out this week about his continuing tax headaches in support of his six-date live tour of Northern Ireland titled This Is My Life – in which he promises to tell fans the inside story of his journey from ‘humble beginnings’ to the ‘dazzling heights’ of national television.
But he also took an unexpected swipe at his once-close pal and ITV colleague Lorraine Kelly – who won a reprieve in her own battle against HMRC in similar circumstances.
Lorraine had argued she ‘played the character of Lorraine Kelly’ in her TV work, which Eamonn said he had refused to do despite the mounting bills.
He added: ‘I could say, you know, I’m an actor who plays the part of Eamonn Holmes, except I’m not, I’m the same off screen as I am on screen.
‘There’s no different persona with me.’
In response to his claims, a HMRC spokesman said: ‘We take the wellbeing of all taxpayers seriously and do everything we can for those who engage with us to get their tax affairs in order, including by offering affordable payment plans.’
Eamonn had also recently lashed out over his mobility issues, ranting that ‘nobody cares’ about his ‘special needs’ while live on air.
He blasted: ‘Do you know what? You can’t even phone a hotel anymore. You’ve got to go to a website, but I don’t want to go to a website.
‘I want to talk to people and explain I’ve got special needs. I need a bathroom with bars so I can hold and stand up in the shower or whatever, but you just cannot speak to anybody.’
It’s a sorry situation for the man who was once a TV superstar. Little wonder his colleagues find him difficult.
