Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes have been temporarily sidelined at Good Morning America amid public scrutiny over their romance. The journalists, who co-host the popular afternoon spinoff GMA3, did not appear on Monday’s show, which was instead anchored by Gio Benitez and Stephanie Ramos.
Yahoo Entertainment can confirm ABC News President Kim Godwin told employees during an editorial call on Monday that while Holmes and Robach’s consensual relationship “is not a violation of company policy,” the network is trying to “work through what’s best” for the organization as the pair’s relationship has become a distraction. It’s unclear how long Robach and Holmes will sit out the broadcast as a source says, telling Yahoo it’s a “day by day” situation.
When Benitez and Ramos kicked off Monday’s show, they breezed by their co-workers absence.
“Good afternoon and welcome everybody to What You Need to Know on this Monday, Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes got the day off, I’m Stephanie Ramos,” the correspondent began.
“And I’m Gio Benitez. We are so glad you are here with us to begin this brand new week on GMA3,” the broadcaster added.
Holmes and Robach’s relationship was revealed Wednesday when The Daily Mail posted photos of the coworkers canoodling off-air on multiple occasions over the past month. While a workplace romance is fairly common, the duo became tabloid fodder as they’ve both been married to other people since 2010. Robach and Holmes hosted GMA3 on Thursday and Friday as scheduled, but did not address the nature of their relationship and went for a more lighthearted approach.
“You know, it’s too bad it’s Friday,” Holmes quipped last week.
“Is it?” Robach asked.
“It’s been a great week. I just want this one to keep going and going and going,” Holmes joked.
“Speak for yourself,” Robach declared.
A source tells Yahoo that Holmes and Robach separated from their respective spouses, Marilee Fiebig and Andrew Shue, in August. Just when the pair’s friendship turned romantic, though, is unclear.
People reports Shue and Robach were about to settle their divorce before news of her new relationship leaked.
“They were waiting on [the settlement] to tell people,” an insider claimed of Robach and the Melrose Place actor. “The whole point of why she waited to share the news that her marriage was over: she went to [divorce] mediation.”
“The woman had cancer for a long time. She was very preoccupied with that,” the insider added. “Stuff with her and Andrew was difficult starting early summer this year and they had issues before.”
Shue has not publicly addressed the split — but he did wipe all traces of his estranged wife off his Instagram account.
A separate source claimed to People that Robach and Holmes, who’ve always been close, have “no shame going out together and have been publicly doing this for much longer than a month.”
“Amy was going through a heartache and T.J. was very much there for her and helpful, and that is when they started something,” the insider alleged. The source noted that the pair’s relationship was “the worst kept secret in ABC News.”
MORE: Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes joke about their “great week”
