“GMA3” will no longer be anchored by T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach after ABC News announced the duo’s dismissal Friday, two months after news broke of their secret office romance.
The pair, previously known for their on-air chemistry, had been suspended since early December following a late November report from DailyMail.com chronicling an apparent affair between the anchors, per the New York Times.
After TMZ reported that ABC News initially had no plans of disciplining the co-anchors, the network confirmed Friday in a statement to employees that Holmes, 45, and Robach, 49, have been let go permanently.
“After several productive conversations with Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, about different options, we all agreed it’s best for everyone that they move on from ABC News,” reads the statement from the network, as reported by the Times. “We recognize their talent and commitment over the years and are thankful for their contributions.”
As reported by DailyMail.com, the final decision was determined after Holmes and Robach met with ABC News executives in an “extremely contentious” meditation session on Thursday. The session reportedly lasted through Friday morning.
Per the outlet, the pair’s exit from the network wraps up months of uncertainty regarding the future of Good Morning America’s popular lunchtime program, which has been hosted by a series of interim anchors amid internal investigations.
An anonymous source told Entertainment Tonight that as investigations continued it became clear to many ABC News staffers that the duo would not be returning to their posts.
“No one wanted it to come to this, but derogatory information just kept coming up. Once the investigation went several weeks, most people knew that this would be the outcome,” the source told ET.
Holmes, who has worked for ABC News since 2014, and Robach, who had been there since 2012, began co-hosting the program in 2020, according to the Times.
The couple’s romantic involvement reportedly began “a few months” before the news broke last November, after both Holmes and Robach split up with their spouses in August, according to a representative of the duo, per the outlet.
TMZ has also reported that the duo will both receive an undisclosed payout amount following their dismissal.
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