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Amid a growing controversy surrounding a relationship between two co-hosts, ABC News president Kimberly Godwin told employees Monday that she will temporarily take “GMA3” co-hosts T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach off the air while the network decides a course of action.
The relationship was first disclosed Wednesday by the Daily Mail, which published an exhaustive account of the hosts’ off-set relationship that included photos of the pair in intimate poses.
ABC News management was not aware of the relationship before that story appeared. While the network did not comment on the report, Holmes and Robach appeared on air together as usual on Thursday. They did not acknowledge or address the report about their relationship.
On Monday, Godwin told staff the relationship between Holmes and Robach, who are both married to other people, did not violate company policy, according to a person at the company with knowledge of her comments, but said that the dynamic “has become an internal and an external distraction.”
After spending a few days considering how to handle the matter, Godwin decided to temporarily take Holmes and Robach off the air “while we figure this out.”
“These decisions are not easy, they’re not knee-jerk, but they are necessary for the brand and for our priority which, you guys know, are all of us — the people here at ABC,” Godwin told employees.
Godwin also asked ABC employees to stay mum about the relationship and to “stop the whispering in the hallways” about it. “You know, we can’t operate with gossip, and speculation and rumors,” she said. “We need to stay focused on the work.”
Holmes and Robach have served as co-hosts of “GMA3: What You Need to Know,” which airs at 1 p.m. Eastern time, since the fall of 2020. Holmes, a veteran of CNN, joined ABC News in 2014, while Robach joined ABC News as a correspondent in 2012 after working as a reporter and weekend anchor for NBC News.
Holmes and Robach have not publicly discussed their relationship, though Robach made a brief comment to the Daily Mail on Friday. “I’ve gotten a lot of support,” she told the publication. “And, you know, I appreciate everything, and I’m happy to be going to work.”
According to some reports, both Holmes and Robach separated from their spouses over the summer.
Godwin said that Stephanie Ramos and Gio Benitez will be co-anchoring Monday’s show, which also regularly features the network’s chief medical correspondent, Jennifer Ashton. Ramos told viewers at the top of the show that “Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes have the day off.”
The show, which launched in its current iteration in 2020, is a ratings success for ABC, drawing an average of 1.57 million total viewers for the month of November, and besting similar programming on NBC and CBS.
Godwin did not announce hosting plans for “GMA3” beyond Monday’s show and said she would not discuss the relationship between Robach and Holmes on the network’s morning editorial call again “until there is more to be said.”
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