Amid reports of the breakdown of his second marriage to Ruth Langsford we take a look at who the first Mrs Holmes is and the reason behind their split in 1996

Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford left many in shock after confirming speculation that their 14 year marriage had come to an end.

The couple had been considered to be one of the most honest TV marriages, despite their bickering live on air as they had always insisted it had come from a place of affection. And while it will be difficult to imagine one without the other, this is not the first time Eamonn has been down the road of divorce as he had previously been married to Gabrielle, who he has three children with.

While little is known of his first wife, reports have surfaced that claim the pair first met in 1976 and fell deeply in love. But their romance failed to stand the test of time and the couple parted ways in 1996. While Eamonn has insisted the pair ha adn “amicable divorce”, things were not that easy at the time the couple realised their marriage was breaking down.

Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes have ended their marriage after 14 years (

Image:

PA)

TV presenter Eamonn Holmes with his first wife Gabrielle and their three children (

Image:

Press Association)

In his 2008 book, This Is My Life: The Autobiography, he hinted at the fact in the period following the death of his dad, Gabrielle had grown distant towards him. He wrote: “Gabrielle was increasingly indifferent and I didn’t know why. 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.”

Eamonn and Gabrielle have three children together, Declan, Rebecca and Niall, while he also has another son named Jack with Ruth. He also claimed his job was another factor contributing to their split and while he had no issue in not being around for work during the week, it became clear that Gabrielle did. .He explained at the time: “That was the first time I realised there wasn’t that emotional support there for me, though I probably had suspected it.”

He added: “By that stage we tended to be apart during the week because of my job, and I had no trouble with that – though Gabrielle obviously did.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. But it gave my wife a life of her own, with her children, and come weekends I was intruding on it, y’know.”

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Eamon met Ruth for the first time in 1997 but decided to take things slow as a show of respect to Gabrielle and his children. By 2002, Ruth and Eamonn’s son Jack was born and the couple tied the knot eight years later. But now, in a joint statement both Ruth and Eamonn confirmed their split via their representatives. The statement read: “Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes have confirmed their marriage is over and they are in the process of divorcing.”

Concern had been gathering pace for the pair, who worked together on ITV’s This Morning for many years, as they hadn’t been pictured together for months. And Ruth has not posted about Eamonn on her social media for two years. But recently, he caused a stir when he shared a picture of him cosying up to former page 3 girl Linda Lusardi, which prompted fans to ask “So where is Ruth?”