TV presenter Eamonn Holmes is set to leave This Morning after a 15 year stint, with GB News his likely destination, national reports claim.
The decision comes after a row with ITV bosses during the pandemic after he suggested conspiracy theories linking coronavirus to 5G phone masts should heard.
He issued a clarification the following day but was taken off his Friday slot along with wife Ruth Langsford, The Mirror reports.
Now Eamonn is poised to front his own show on GB News, with one source telling the Mirror: “Eamonn’s move to GB News marks the end of an era. He’ll be missed by many ITV viewers but, the truth is, this job offer probably came at just the right moment for both him and ITV. All good things come to an end.”
His decision to join the station will have a knock-on effect for Ruth, with whom he fronts This Morning in school holidays. A huge favourite with viewers, she is unlikely to remain on the show without him but is expected to continue as a regular on Loose Women.
GB News, funded by investors including Discovery to the tune of £60million, launched in June with a brief to “champion balanced debate”.
It was initially beset by technical difficulties and has since suffered several big departures – including that of chairman and main presenter Andrew Neil, who left after two weeks and said stress had brought him “close to a breakdown”.
Its current presenters include former BBC journalist Simon McCoy, ex-Sky host Kirsty Gallacher, former UKIP leader Nigel Farage and ITN’s Alastair Stewart, who left ITV News last year after a Twitter row.
When it launched, Eamonn said he hoped it would get a “decent chance”: “We need a shake-up on the news front. I have huge respect for TV news but this is a reminder news is not just Westminster or a constant woke agenda.”
It led to one critic calling him a “relic”.
GB News has sparked plenty of controversy since launching.
Presenter Guto Harri quit in July after being suspended for taking the knee during a debate on racism in football.
The row also led to the departures of a director and producer, with Guto branding the station “an absurd parody of what it proclaimed to be”.
Eamonn is expected to start on GB News next year.
