Entertainment
Keyaira Boone, Esme Mazzeo, and Libby Torres
Updated
- Former "GMA3" co-anchors Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes sparked controversy after their relationship became public.
- Photos of Holmes and Robach cuddling were first published by the Daily Mail in November 2022.
- Both Robach and Holmes have emphasized that they were separated from their spouses at the time.
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"GMA3: What You Need to Know" co-anchors T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach sparked controversy in November 2022 after their relationship became public. The two journalists — who were legally married to other people at the time — were subsequently thrust into the national spotlight.
Holmes married attorney Marilee Fiebig in 2010, and Robach has been married to actor Andrew Shue since 2010. Since the news broke, it's been reported that both couples were separated before Robach and Holmes got together.
Here's a timeline of the scandal that rocked "GMA3" and led to both Holmes and Robach exiting the morning show.
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November 30, 2022: Daily Mail published photos of Robach and Holmes.
The Daily Mail posted images of Robach and Holmes together in a series of intimate situations, including having drinks in a New York bar and traveling to a cottage in the Shawangunk Mountains of upstate New York. The two are shown laughing together, holding hands, and casually touching one another.
Shortly after, Entertainment Weekly reported that Holmes shuttered his Twitter and Instagram accounts and Robach deactivated her Instagram profile.
December 2022: Shue deleted pictures of Robach on hisInstagram profile.
Shue's account was wiped of pictures of his wife the day after the Daily Mail published their photos of Robach and Holmes, according to E! News.
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December 2022: An interview with Robach and Reese Witherspoon from earlier in the year resurfaced, hinting at similarities between "GMA3" and "The Morning Show.
An October 2022 interview between Robach and actor Reese Witherspoon resurfaced on Twitter, reminding viewers that the host had once possibly hinted at drama occurring behind-the-scenes of "GMA3."
Witherspoon, who was promoting her Apple TV+ drama "The Morning Show," asked Robach and her co-hosts whether the fictional workplace drama "hit home a little bit."
"We can give you a few more plot lines," Robach replied, as her colleagues laughed.
—mich❀ (@pikemargulies) December 1, 2022
Witherspoon jumped on the opportunity to take the show's stories to the next level.
"Email me," she told Robach.
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December 2022: Anonymous "GMA3" staffers said Robach and Holmes did not start dating until they were separated from their spouses.
A source told People that Holmes and Robach were both effectively single when they began dating.
"This was two consenting adults who were each separated. They both broke up with their spouses in August within weeks of each other," the source said.
"The relationship didn't start until after that," they added.
Meanwhile, the two anchors continued filming as the scandal unfolded. On December 2, they even joked about what "a great week" they were having in a sarcastic tone, according to Page Six.
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December 5, 2022: Robach and Holmes were pulled off the air.
Robach and Holmes were placed on hiatus from "GMA3" amidst the scandal. According to the New York Times, ABC News president Kim Godwin reportedly called the news frenzy surrounding their relationship an "internal and external distraction" on a morning editorial call.
December 7, 2022: Anonymous sources alleged that Holmes had affairs with other co-workers, including a "GMA3" producer.
Holmes was accused of having romantic relationships with other coworkers by an anonymous sourceinterviewed by ET. The source said there was at least one other person Holmes interacted with romantically, but did not name the other person.
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December 28, 2022: Holmes filed for divorce.
Holmes filed for divorce from Fiebig in New York, according to Page Six. They were married for nearly 13 years and share one daughter, Sabine.
On the same day the news broke, Holmes and Robach were photographed making out in Miami.
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January 2023: Holmes' estranged wife Marilee Fiebig spoke out (via her divorce lawyer) for the first time since the scandal broke.
"Marilee's sole focus has remained on the overall best interest of her 9-year-old daughter," Stephanie Lehman, Fiebig's lawyer, told the DailyMail.
She confirmed that the divorce between Fiebig and Holmes was progressing. "To that end, T.J.'s lawyer and I have been working together to move their divorce forward privately, expeditiously, and as amicably as possible," Lehman continued.
Lehmancriticized Holmes' public actions.
"Notwithstanding, we continue to be disappointed by T.J's lack of discretion, respect, and sensitivity toward Marilee and the party's daughter," she added.
The divorce was ultimately settled in October 2023, People reported.
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Janurary 27, 2023: Holmes and Robach exited "GMA3" permanently.
In late January 2023, TMZ was the first to report that the co-anchors were preparing to exit "GMA3" officially. No official statement was made at the time of the report, but a source close to ABC told the outlet that mediation attempts between ABC executives and the couple on January 26 were "extremely contentious." ABC reportedly accused Robach of having liquor in her dressing room and violating policy, which the source said was "ridiculous."
A source also told TMZ that the mediation attempt was a "witch hunt" and that Holmes and Robach will both receive payouts per their contracts.
The same day as the reports, Holmes' and Robach's exits were confirmed. In a statement given to Business Insider, ABC said that Holmes and Robach were officially leaving the network, a month after being taken off the air in the aftermath of their relationship being exposed.
"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," a spokesperson for the network said. "We recognize their talent and commitment over the years and are thankful for their contributions."
December 1, 2022: Robach and Holmes made their red-carpet debut as a couple.
The two attended KIIS FM's iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2023 together. They showed plenty of PDA in their first public appearance as a couple.
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December 5, 2023: Robach and Holmes released the first episode of their podcast — a year to the day after their relationship was revealed publicly.
The couple's podcast "Amy & T.J." premiered in early December. During the first episode, the former ABC anchors emphasized that they were both separated from their respective partners when their relationship began, as Business Insider's Eammon Jacobs reported.
"To be clear, we were outed as being in a relationship," Holmes said on the podcast. "But everyone else thought we were being outed as adulterers, being outed as cheating on our spouses, and it wasn't the case."
Robach, for her part, said her close friends knew she was in the middle of divorcing Shue when the photos of her and Holmes leaked in November 2023.
"I took my ring off early August. It was very clear to anyone who knew me that I was in the middle of a divorce," she said.
Holmes also acknowledged that the couple probably could gone about things differently.
"We shouldn't have allowed — and I could say that in hindsight — for folks to find out about our relationship before they found out about our divorces," he said.
But Robach said they were trying to protect their families from potential backlash.
"We thought we were protecting our children and our families, and we thought we had time," she said. "And we thought we had a right to privacy. And maybe that was foolish and silly."
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December 5, 2023: The same day the podcast launched, reports surfaced that Robach's and Holmes' exes are now dating each other.
A source told People that Robach's ex Andrew Shue and Holmes' ex Marilee Fiebig "bonded over their shared experience of splitting from their partners."
Page Six first broke the news, and reported that Shue and Fiebig have been dating for around six months. The unlikely couple have reportedly moved on from the scandal involving their exes.
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