It could be that Eamonn Holmes’ wish to move back to Northern Ireland contributed to his split from his wife Ruth Langsford.

After 14 years of marriage it was revealed over the weekend that TV’s golden couple are heading for a shock divorce.

The pair, both 64, declared they would officially part ways after work commitments ‘took their marriage in different directions’ – with sources since claiming the separation could get ‘very, very tricky’.

And now his words in an unearthed interview from last year have hinted at the cause of his marriage breakdown – as he told how he ‘pined’ to go back to Belfast but Ruth ‘wouldn’t go’.

Speaking to Kaye Adams for her How to be 60 podcast, Eamonn admitted last year: ‘I’ve always pined to go back to Belfast, because that’s what I associate with company and friendship and craic. 
+8
View gallery

It could be that Eamonn Holmes’s wish to move back to Northern Ireland contributed to his split from his wife Ruth Langsford

+8
View gallery

It comes as questions have been raised over whether his marriage to Ruth ended due to the same reasons he split from his first wife Gabrielle Holmes (seen) who he shares three children with

‘I’d love to have a house – nowadays probably a bungalow – with a sea view. I’d love to breathe in sea air and I always associate that with Ireland.

‘I think that would make me happy. Trouble is, Ruth wouldn’t go. That’s a little snag. She wouldn’t go. I do like the idea. I do like the idea of being there.’

He added: ‘I’ve never taken to London life; it’s never been for me. It’s not what I would call home.

‘I go back to Ireland all the time and everybody I know is there – my four other brothers, two of my children and my grandchild is there as well. So, it’s always had a call for me to be back in Northern Ireland. That stretch of water is a big divide. I find London can be very lonely.

‘I don’t have the same friendships or camaraderie with people that I know in London, because it’s all so disparate and far apart. I’ve never felt it to be home or somewhere that I would call home. You need mates. In the London area you’re miles away from everyone.’

It comes as questions have been raised over whether his marriage to Ruth ended due to the same reasons he split from his first wife Gabrielle Holmes who he shares three children with.

In his 2008 book, This Is My Life: The Autobiography, Eamonn claimed his job was a major factor contributing to their split – which has also been claimed as a reason he split from Ruth too.

While he had no issue in not being around for work during the week, it soon became clear that Gabrielle did.

+8
View gallery

After 14 years of marriage it was revealed over the weekend that TV’s golden couple are heading for a shock divorce

+8
View gallery

And now his words in an unearthed interview from last year have hinted at the cause of his marriage breakdown – as he told how he ‘pined’ to go back to Belfast but Ruth ‘wouldn’t go’

+8
View gallery

Speaking to Kaye Adams for her How to be 60 podcast, Eamonn admitted last year: ‘I’ve always pined to go back to Belfast, because that’s what I associate with company and friendship and craic’

He said: ‘That was the first time I realised there wasn’t that emotional support there for me, though I probably had suspected it.’

Eamonn added: ‘By that stage we tended to be apart during the week because of my job, and I had no trouble with that – though Gabrielle obviously did.

‘I always believed absence would make the heart grow fonder and, in fact, the commuting heightened my desperation for her, made the time less bearable and longer.

‘But it gave my wife a life of her own, with her children, and come weekends I was intruding on it, y’know.’

Earlier this week a statement issued by the couple revealed that the former This Morning presenters are to divorce after work commitments ‘took their marriage in different directions’.

The pair until recently were still living together at their £3.2million home in Weybridge, Surrey, and are ‘determined to stay friends and keep things amicable’. He has now moved out.

The spokesman added: ‘Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes have confirmed their marriage is over and they are in the process of divorcing.’

Although the news is likely to come as a huge surprise to their fans, rumours that their relationship was in trouble have been circulating around the television industry for some months.

Sources also claim that Eamonn is furious about the split and that the break-up has ‘very much been orchestrated by Ruth’.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Monday’s statement – far from being a joint effort – was in fact arranged by Ruth, with Eamonn refusing to get involved.

He reportedly told friends he ‘didn’t want to get involved’ and that ‘Ruth can do what she wants but keep me out of it’.

It is understood he was against making the news public after spending months trying to save his marriage. Ruth though, was determined to walk away.

Both Eamonn and Ruth have denied that there were any problems with their relationship when asked in recent months, although friends of the couple say that the marriage has actually been over for at least a year.

One source who knows the Irish star said that Eamonn would become ‘very angry indeed’ when probed on the truth of his marriage.

‘His language became really quite rude,’ they said. ‘He was struggling to accept it.’

Another source added: ‘Eamonn’s preferred way was not to tell anyone. Deep down he knew it couldn’t carry on but he was kind of sticking his head in the sand. He is very upset indeed.’

+8
View gallery

Neither Ruth or Eamonn have posted pictures of one another on any of their social media accounts for more than a year

+8
View gallery

The pair are – at least for now – still living together at their £3.2million home in Weybridge, Surrey, and are ‘determined to stay friends and keep things amicable’

Fans are now asking what could possibly have prompted the end of what has long been considered to be one of the strongest relationships in British showbusiness.

Friends say the couple have been tested by health, financial and professional issues in recent issues – and that ‘something had to give’.

In particular, Ruth has struggled to cope with Eamonn’s agonising bad back following slipped discs and a fall at home in 2022.

Speaking to Woman’s Weekly magazine, the Loose Women presenter admitted his injuries had been ‘testing’ as they tried to ‘manage as a family’.