Eamonn Holmes claimed online trolls had been trying to get him sacked, days after learning he was losing his This Morning slot.
The 60-year-old and wife Ruth Langsford were “furious and upset” after their run on Fridays for the ITV hit was halted.
We exclusively broke the story on Mirror Online on Saturday and also revealed that they will be replaced by Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary.
The night before, speaking to fans on a Belfast Live Facebook chat, Eamonn admitted it was “stressful” knowing social media trolls were plotting to get him sacked.
He added: “People say it’s water off a duck’s back but people wake up and they know they can get you sacked... that’s the thing about live TV. It can be very stressful.”
We told on Saturday how Eamonn confided in recent weeks of fearing he was too “pale, stale and male” for the show – which has drawn criticism for not having enough diversity among hosts.
Under the shake-up, Eamonn and Ruth, 60, will host the main show for six weeks in the summer, when Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby take a break.
An insider said: “ITV has been open about wanting to diversify and make the show ‘less white’ but they haven’t tried to find anything else for them.
Ruth will remain on Loose Women and they will do school holidays. But Eamonn hasn’t been offered a role anywhere else on the channel, which is a real shame for him.”
Alison, 45, has been a roving reporter on This Morning for years and is a favourite with fans.
She and former X Factor host Dermot, 47, have been paired as stand-in presenters previously – most recently last month – and bosses are impressed by their chemistry. “They have real warmth,” a show insider said. “It’s time for a change and they are perfect.”
Eamonn also infuriated bosses earlier this year when he earned an Ofcom rap for “ill-judged” comments regarding conspiracy theories surrounding 5G phone masts spreading coronavirus.
The watchdog said his remarks, in which he said the media should not just slap down such claims, “risked undermining trust in advice from public authorities and scientific evidence”.
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