Exactly a year after Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes were pulled from their Good Morning America slot after tabloids exposed their romantic relationship, their first podcast episode has arrived. And, much like another famous couple who turned to podcasting after being expelled from an elite inner sanctum, Holmes and Robach want to talk about it. They spent most of the first episode of Amy & T.J. walking us through what went down in their personal lives in the weeks following the Daily Mail’s exposé of their relationship.
Both former anchors claimed that they had already begun divorce proceedings with their respective spouses before they started dating and well before a paparazzo started tailing them on various trysts. “It was very clear to everyone that knew me that I was in the middle of a divorce,” Robach said, adding that she’d stopped wearing her wedding ring in early August. Holmes pointed out that the building he was pictured emerging from in the Daily Mail’s photos contained an apartment he lived in alone. They’d each told a small circle of friends about their divorces and were keeping their new relationship largely under wraps, including from their children. According to them, they’d planned to go public in January once they’d finalized all their divorce paperwork.
Instead, they were “outed” and found themselves unequipped for the ensuing media attention. “We failed at being good crisis managers,” Holmes said, “or at understanding some level of celebrity that neither one of us thought we had.” The couple detailed one scary incident in which Holmes stopped responding to calls, having consumed a large amount of vodka and weed edibles alone in his apartment, and Robach found him passed out in bed. “There were days where I wanted to die,” she said.
Holmes and Robach also spoke about their departure from ABC, where they were initially encouraged to continue filming. “I believe I was asked, Are you comfortable coming back to work?” Robach remembers, adding that she and Holmes were assured they hadn’t violated company policy and “co-workers were coming in and giving us hugs and telling us it was gonna be okay.” A few days later, though, their bosses told them to stay home from work, explaining that the tabloid frenzy around the couple had become a distraction. “We knew we would not be going back to that network,” Holmes said of the call. “You can’t come back from that.” Sure enough, after a hefty amount of litigation, they lost what he referred to as their “dream jobs.”
“We’re the folks who lost the jobs we love because we love each other,” Holmes said. “I am in love with this woman and she is in love with me. And we are planning a life together.” Robach added that things turned out okay after their “year of hell.” “We have fought for love, and I’ve never been happier,” she said. “I am with my best friend.”
It’s unclear how much more time these two plan to devote to sharing their origin story — their podcast launch did tease “meaningful conversations about current events,” so this will presumably be the only installment in which they hash out their controversial year-and-change. Still, it is good to know they turned out happy, healthy, in love, and — most importantly — podcasting. Here’s to a flirty season!