Eamonn Holmes joins GB News after quitting This Morning

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Eamonn Holmes has officially joined GB News, it’s been announced.

The TV personality, who has co-presented episodes of This Morning alongside his wife Ruth Langsford for 15 years, will join the channel in early 2022.

“I’ve admired GB News from the beginning for its clever mix of punchy debate but delivered with warmth and even some fun,” he said.

“I’ve spent my career on broadcasting firsts and start-ups, and GB News is one of the most exciting yet. It’s just the kind of shake-up the industry needs.”

Holmes, whose broadcasting career began in 1972, joins contributors including Nigel Farage and Dan Wootton.

In 2020, Holmes was criticised after peddling a widely discredited conspiracy theory that claims Covid-19 is spread by 5G telephone masts.

He was told by broadcasting watchdog Ofcom that his comments risked “undermining trust” in science and public health bodies.

Holmes went on to denounce his comments, saying there was “no scientific evidence to substantiate any 5G theories”.

However, he did not apologise for the incident and said he had been “misinterpreted”.

Holmes hosted This Morning’s Friday show alongside Langsford from 2006 up until 2020, when a shake-up saw their weekly episode axed in favour of one fronted by Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond.

Holmes and Langsford were then given an entire six weeks of episodes over the summer, while main hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield took a break.

GB News has been mired in controversy since it launched in June 2021.

Initially, Andrew Neil was the face of the much-derided right-leaning news channel, but he left acrimoniously in September.

Neil has since described the channel as a “shambles” and a “Ukip tribute band”.