Update December 30: Not long after ABC put GMA 3 on hiatus, T.J. Holmes is canceling his marriage. Us Weekly reported that Holmes filed for divorce December 28 from Marilee Fiebig, his wife of 12 years. It’s a far cry from what Holmes wrote about his ten-year anniversary on Facebook in 2020. “Asking her for another 10 years would be asking too much, “he wrote. “Another 10 months? That may even be a stretch. If she gave me another 10 weeks, I should consider myself lucky. If she puts up with me another 10 days, I’d be grateful. But if she would even spare another 10 minutes of her time for me today, I should consider myself blessed.†Two days later, Holmes and Amy Robach were papped getting smoochy in Miami. The relationship has hit the celeb soft-launch stage: paparazzi photos.
Original story follows.
Before we get to the allegations, let’s start with a fact: We’ve been starved for some good drama lately. Salad aside, Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles had an uneventful breakup. Ye’s downfall has taken a turn to the deplorable and sad. Even Adam Levine’s recent cheating scandal vanished like his DMs should’ve. When our biggest ongoing saga involves a grumpy Manhattan restaurateur feuding with a late-night host, what have we, as a culture, become? Luckily, Tabloid Christmas has come early this year — in the form of a cheating scandal involving two B-team Good Morning America anchors. And trust us, this is some Morning Show–level drama. It started yesterday, November 30, when the Daily Mail published 65 photos of GMA3: What You Need to Know anchors T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach from an alleged “romantic weekend away†in upstate New York earlier in November. (That’s right, 65!) Among the most incriminating are Holmes grabbing Robach’s butt outside a car, the pair holding hands in an Uber, and Robach giggling with Holmes over some Stellas. Yes, he shared a laugh with her.
Now, yes, two grown adults are allowed to date consensually — even if they work on the same TV show. Except that Holmes and Robach were thought to be married to other people before the pictures broke. Both had been married since 2010 to their second spouses. (Robach’s is Andrew Shue — for all the Melrose Place fans.) The Mail reported that Holmes and Robach have been carrying on for the past six months, and sources told the outlet that both split from their partners in August — just after Robach vacationed in Greece with her now-estranged husband, per her now-deleted Instagram. Per Us Weekly, Robach and Shue sold their New York apartment in September. As for Holmes’s relationship with attorney Marilee Fiebig, it looks like it’s been … rocky for a while. In August 2020, Holmes celebrated their tenth anniversary by writing an unearthed Facebook post saying the two stayed married “despite my best efforts†and he “gave her plenty of reasons, excuses, and opportunities to walk her fine ass out the doooooooor.†A public post no less. One of those excuses/opportunities may have been a previous workplace affair, per “Page Six,†that ended during the pandemic. “Marilee never considered Amy,†a source said, because she already had that other affair on her plate.
Holmes and Robach have worked together since 2014, when Holmes joined her at ABC. They became close friends and, eventually, co-anchors in September 2020, when Holmes joined Robach and Dr. Jennifer Ashton on the later-rebranded Pandemic: What You Need to Know. (The show booted Strahan, Sara and Keke off the air, and this drama might be the only good side effect of Keke Palmer no longer gracing a daytime show.) “The moment he started at ABC, I think we just clicked,†Robach previously told People, going on to spill about their double dates, when her children would babysit his. (“Basically, he’s like my brother,†she added at the time.)
So when did things take a turn for the romantic? June, according to sources for the Mail, when the two went to London together to cover Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee and “staff were buzzing about the intimacy between them.†But “Page Six†traced things back further with a source claiming they got closer while training for the New York City Half Marathon in March. They could both be right — a source told Entertainment Tonight that “their love of running†and “traveling for special remote assignments†helped lead to their relationship. A source even told People there were affair rumors “a year ago.†Another source, though, told the magazine that “the relationship didn’t start until after†their August splits. Sure. Yet another source told “Page Six†that Holmes had been having an affair with a producer on GMA3, and that Robach was their mutual friend and confidant. (One lesson here: Don’t have a public affair if you work in media in New York City, where everyone’s a source!)
Regardless, it was all happening right under our noses — Holmes and Robach’s half-marathon training was very public on social media (including on GMA3’s!), while their coverage of the Platinum Jubilee was literally on the clock. Still, some sources were somehow surprised by news of them dating. “The producers at GMA are shocked to hear they are having an affair,†a source told “Page Six,†adding that the couple “were very careful behind the scenes to keep their affair secret.†That tracked with the Mail’s reporting claiming that the pair left the GMA office separately before meeting for beers and stood 20 feet apart while waiting for that fateful Uber. But wait, remember the People source who insisted Holmes and Robach didn’t start dating till August? They told People that Robach has “got nothing to hide†and that the couple “felt very comfortable dating in the open†post-split.
Clearly, ABC didn’t feel comfortable enough to have the couple host GMA3 together after the news broke. (The Mail reported that ABC News president Kim Godwin was not previously aware of the relationship.) Instead, Holmes held down the show solo yesterday, claiming both Robach and Dr. Ashton were on assignment. Yet the trio returned today without even a flick at the reports. “Who’s looking forward to the weekend?†a laughing Holmes asked, after Robach called it “Friday eve.†(The recently married Ashton immediately raised her hand, clearly excited for her time away from those formerly secret lovers.) Behind the scenes, a source told “Page Six†that Holmes and Robach “showed up as a couple†to tape “as if nothing happened.†Meanwhile, that source said producers were “freaking out†and having meetings, and even new-old Disney CEO Bob Iger (who oversees ABC) found out about the couple on November 28. “Their decision is a ‘watch and wait’ approach,†the source said of Iger and Godwin, citing Holmes and Robach’s obvious “chemistry.â€
And “watch and wait†seems to be the public’s approach too, judging by the number of people tweeting about tuning into GMA3 today. As that last source said, “In some ways, this is TV gold, but let’s just hope they don’t break up.†Hopefully, those Morning Show writers are watching too — but not waiting to turn this one into a story line.
This story has been updated throughout.