GMA3 - 3/28/22 - GMA3: What You Need to Know, recaps the Oscars on Monday, March 28, 2022 on ABC. (Photo by Phil McCarten/ABC via Getty Images) TJ HOLMES, AMY ROBACH
“Good Morning America” anchors Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes have been taken off-air by executives at ABC amidst their ongoing alleged workplace affair scandal that has rocked the network since news broke of the tryst late last month.
During an internal call on Monday, ABC News President Kim Godwin announced that the duo would no longer host their daily 1 p.m. time slot. according to Page Six.
Godwin went on to tell staffers that the alleged affair had become too much of an “internal and external distraction.”
“After a lot of thought I am taking Amy and T.J. off the air as we figure this out,” she said.
She added that although their alleged affair was “not a violation of company policy,” removing them from their anchor seats was necessary for the “GMA” brand.
The news of Holmes and Robach being relieved of on-air duties comes just days after sources told TMZ that there’d be no disciplinary action taken over the couple’s consensual relationship.
Meanwhile, Stephanie Ramos and Gio Benitez will host “GMA3” this week in their place, as more internal meetings take place at the network regarding how to handle the scandal.
Top “GMA’ anchor Robin Roberts has taken particular issue with the controversy, being “not only very religious, but also (not) liking this kind of scandal tainting the show,” multiple sources told Page Six of the alleged affair.
The outlet reports that Roberts, 62, actually confronted Robach and Holmes about the affair, with an insider telling Page Six that Roberts “pulled them both aside an basically said, ‘Stop it.'”
Holmes’ and Robach’s reported relationship was outed last week after they were spotted together at bars close to ABC’s Midtown Manhattan studios.
The affair is believed to have started as early as spring of this year, while other sources close to the situation claim the affair began in August after they left their respective spouses.
Last week, The Shade Room had reported that ABC executives were holding “emergency meetings” over the fallout caused by co-hosts Amy Roback and T.J. Holmes, who have been reportedly engaged in a secret love affair for the last several months.
A source close to the situation initially told the New York Post that Robach, who is married to actor Andrew Shue, along with Holmes, who’s married to immigration lawyer Marilee Fiebig, would “keep their jobs if their ratings hold up” over the next several weeks.
The Post reports that the source said the scandal has only helped their ratings since the story first broke late last month..
“It’s ultimately about the ratings,” the source said, while adding that the scandal has caused “ratings… to go through the roof.”
Meanwhile, another insider had initially said that Godwin was unaware of the affair. A third source told the outlet at the time that the pair could face disciplinary actions given that they didn’t disclose the relationship beforehand.
“If ABC didn’t know, they should enforce company policy,” a high-level Hollywood source said.
The exact details of ABC’s policy on inter-office relationships were not immediately available.
“This story is good-old fashioned gossip,” the source said. “The biggest takeaway is that they were both stupid.”
Last Thursday, Robach and Holmes both hosted “GMA” together for the first time since the story broke, however they did not address the reported affair.
