Today, the reaction – or not – to a social media post can be very revealing about interpersonal relationships.
So what to make of Eamonn Holmes ‘licking’ a photo of his soon-to-be ex-mother-in-law, taken this week by his soon-to-be ex-wife Ruth Langsford?
Ruth’s elderly mother is currently in hospital after a fall that broke her hip.
It was the latest twist in the story of Ruth and Eamonn’s split, just days after he was pictured in Paris with his new girlfriend Katie Alexander, who wore a large diamond sparkler on the third finger of her left hand.
This inevitably led to rumors that the couple were engaged and that Eamonn and Ruth will get a ‘quickie’ divorce to facilitate the wedding. Are wedding bells just around the corner for Eamonn and Katie? Did he and Ruth have a rapprochement?
Even more confusing is that Eamonn and Ruth are still wearing their wedding rings.
Sure, the TV presenter and his new, much younger girlfriend looked happy in Paris, even if they make an unlikely couple.
Holmes, 65, is in a wheelchair because of chronic back pain and mobility issues. He has gray hair and wears zip-up sweaters. Bling plays no role in his personal style.
Eamonn Holmes and glamorous girlfriend Katie Alexander on holiday in Ibiza in September
Blonde Katie, 43, likes dresses that are tight and short, a pop of bright lipstick and sky-high heels. The mother of three also has a penchant for designer handbags.
As a friend of Eamonn’s commented to me, the contrast between them is astonishing: ‘The first time I saw Katie I thought, ‘What! Is this real?’
But no one has to pick out a hat yet as another friend of Eamonn says he is ‘categorically’ not engaged to Katie – not yet anyway. ‘They are both very serious about each other and about romance. It seems to be heading towards a wedding, but they are definitely not engaged,’ I am told.
So what’s holding things back? Ruth and Eamonn began legally dissolving their union just weeks before the May 25 announcement, which starkly read: “Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes have confirmed that their marriage is over and they are in the process of divorcing.”
It’s now been almost exactly seven months since that declaration, which happens to be pretty much the average time it takes to get divorced in Britain.
There doesn’t seem to be any major disagreement on any particular topic. For example, Ruth wants to keep the former marital home in Weybridge and will buy him out of the property – but it still takes time. By mutual agreement, Ruth will also keep their dog Maggie, as Eamonn is not physically well enough to walk her.
Although there are reports that Ruth deliberately removed the stairlift at the house just before Eamonn went on his first holiday with Katie in September – a cruise around the Mediterranean – making it difficult for her estranged husband to retrieve his belongings, say friends of Ruth. that this is simply not true.
The stairlift had been decommissioned months earlier and Eamonn had been warned well in advance. Plus, he never actually came home to pick up stuff before his vacation.
“If you knew who Ruth is as a person, you would know this is wrong – it’s not who she is,” one person said. Eamonn said in June that he hoped he and ‘Ruthie’ could remain friends. And while he may have ‘liked’ her post about her mother and she in turn liked an Instagram post from Eamonn and a colleague, Ruth’s friends don’t think it’s likely that any sort of friendship will survive.
They think she is too deeply hurt for that. Is it possible that she still wears her wedding ring, indicating that the divorce was not her choice?
Her friend Coleen Nolan, who appears in Loose Women with Ruth, said: “I’ve never met anyone who has handled anything with such dignity and pride. She’s such a lady, more of a lady than I’ll ever be. I would have spilled my guts by now. She was absolutely amazing, she really was.”
Earlier this month we loved Eamonn and Katie. Blonde Katie, 43, prefers dresses that are tight and short, a touch of bright lipstick and sky-high heels, writes Alison Boshoff
Coleen, who has been through two divorces, continued: “I’ll send her messages about staying strong and a text asking how she’s doing today. I just love her and I’m in awe of how she handles everything. She is so elegant and fantastic.’
It has been reported that Ruth was devastated when she found messages on a laptop revealing that Eamonn, her companion of 28 years, had developed a friendship with another woman.
The depth of her pain is evident from her long break from Loose Women – she took two months off to catch her breath.
Friends say she is not interested in dating in any way – unlike Eamonn. “She has absolutely no interest in a new romantic partner,” I’m told. ‘Zero.’
Again, that says it all about how badly she was hurt by Eamonn, who presented This Morning with her on Friday. While Eamonn will spend Christmas with Katie, Ruth won’t be alone. Jack, the son she shares with Eamonn, will be with her.
And her focus will obviously be on her mother Joan, 93, who may still be in hospital over the holidays. A friend said: ‘Ruth and her mother are everything to each other. ‘Every Sunday they peel vegetables together for lunch and drink a glass of sweet sherry.’
Ruth’s sister Julia died by suicide in 2019 after years of being ‘tortured’ by depression. Ruth later said that she could have cried every day for the next year and that this was her most difficult time. So perhaps the trials of divorce pale in comparison to such a tragedy.
Ruth has hired a £480-an-hour lawyer, Catherine Costley, who worked under Baroness Fiona Shackleton, known as Steel Magnolia.
All parties are apparently frustrated by the slow pace and some of Eamonn’s old friends believe his Roman Catholic upbringing could play a role – which is the most likely reason he is still wearing his wedding ring. His divorce from his first wife Gabrielle – with whom he had three children in the mid-1990s – was the cause of genuine mental suffering.
When news of the end of the marriage finally became public, he found it even more painful. ‘I was pilloried as the man who had just abandoned his wife and children, but nothing could be further from the truth.
‘Ripped with Catholic guilt and feeling extremely vulnerable and depressed, I told myself I would not go through this misery again and I believed I could never be in a relationship with anyone else.’
However, waiting in the wings was the sparkling local TV reporter Ruth Langsford. They were introduced by a mutual friend when he was unofficially separated from Gabrielle and eventually the connection became serious.
Confusingly, Eamonn and Ruth Langsford are still wearing their wedding rings
He said, “Ruth turned out to be my knight in shining armor. Initially, her emotional support, which later grew into a deep love, gave me, just by being a friend, faith in my own happiness again.’
He and Ruth welcomed Jack in 2002 and married in 2010. Note that he couldn’t have been happier with Ruth, but it took many more years before he was ready to say “I do” again.
Last month it emerged that he and Katie first exchanged messages in 2012, just two years after the wedding. She and her then husband George chatted with Eamonn on Twitter – now X. The star likes to chat with people he doesn’t know on social media.
At one point the businessman even joked to Eamonn: “Think she’s flirting with you.” George, a diehard Manchester United fan like Eamonn, added: “Well done, we’re both Red.”
George, 53, and therapist Katie divorced in 2022 after 12 years together. It turned out that Eamonn had been giving Katie gifts and treats in the months before his marriage ended.
Last October, eight months before his divorce from Ruth, Eamonn traveled to Yorkshire to organize a charity event linked to Katie’s work. Quite an undertaking for someone in such poor health.
“I have a lot of sympathy for Ruth,” George has said. ‘My heart broke when my marriage to Katie ended. It took me a few years to recover. I know how desperate Ruth must feel [but] Katie has a heart, so she will feel bad about Ruth.”
But there’s no doubt that Eamonn and Katie are both in love now. Katie, who lives in Yorkshire with her children, spends as much time as possible in Eamonn’s beautiful apartment in Kingston, Surrey.
A friend told a newspaper: ‘He has spoken openly about his plans to marry Katie and made it clear he wants to spend the rest of his life with her.
‘They live together now and he knows it feels good. They have a strong bond. She has given him a real zest for life.’
However, there is a feeling that this personal happiness is his only bright spot, as Eamonn has been plagued by problems big and small in recent years.
To start with, there is unrest at GB News, where it has just been announced that his girlfriend and co-presenter Isabel Webster is leaving.
And his physical limitations have not improved despite all efforts. He had hoped that a double hip replacement in 2016 would rid him of chronic pain.
He subsequently underwent surgery for a hernia in 2022, but has since been unable to walk without assistance.
In January this year he admitted he may never be able to do this again.
Eamonn is also still furious at having lost a five-year battle with HMRC over his tax status. That cost him ‘hundreds of thousands’ of pounds in legal fees and a £250,000 tax bill when his appeal was ultimately rejected last year.
He said the ruling had been “the most stressful”. [situation] beyond the loss of my father,” adding, “I was like a lamb to the slaughter. It was the most stressful, humiliating experience… it’s like they took away everything I ever worked for.”
Eamonn, whose career was already well established before his relationship with Ruth began, is also likely to lose some more money in a settlement.
Some believe that the complexity of his financial situation as a result of his battle with HMRC is partly responsible for how slowly things are moving in this regard.
What is certain is that without a quick divorce, there will likely be more twists and turns before Eamonn and Ruth are finally legally divorced.