As Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes continue to show off their relationship publicly, fans of the GMA3: What You Need to Know co-anchors await news of their future on the program. The couple were suspended from the show, as news of their alleged affair became a “distraction,” and over a month later, speculation has turned to whether they will be fired and who could serve as their replacements. Amid news that Robach has “lost most of her friends” at the network, fellow ABC employees Joy Behar and Sara Haines appeared to reference the situation on The View.
Infidelity came up as a topic on the January 6 episode of ABC’s daytime talk show in regards to Gabrielle Union’s recent admissions of cheating in a past relationship. Joy Behar jumped topics and appeared to reference the GMA3 employees’ situation when asking if a workplace affair could ever be justified by circumstances at home. She said on The View:
Is there never a situation of — I’ll get in trouble, but whatever — like, you’re married, you’re not happily married. Sex is like (yawns), both sides are bored with the whole thing, or you’re fighting a lot, but there are children involved. Now you meet somebody at the office and you have a fling. I mean, you want to keep the marriage together, you don’t want the kids to go berserk on you, you know, that happens. Is there any possibility that there is justification for that scenario?
The specific mention of meeting “somebody at the office” amid an unhappy marriage in which children are involved definitely makes it sound like she could be talking about Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes — especially given that Joy Behar said she’d get in trouble for saying it. Both Robach and Holmes got married to their respective spouses in 2010, and each is reported to have separated in August, a few months before their relationship was exposed. Holmes filed for divorce from Marilee Fiebig over the holidays.
Sara Haines then weighed in, taking the supposedly hypothetical situation further by differentiating between a fling and falling in love with someone else. She said:
I have thoughts on this. So if you can live with yourself for that, or whatever, and it’s a one-time fling or something like that, I'm sure there are ways you can get around. But the most important thing is if you start to fall in love with people and you change how you are at home, the example you set is your kids' understanding of how to love someone. So if you become bitter and cynical and there’s a lot of yelling and screaming, that is not serving anyone.
The other co-hosts began discussing different caveats of infidelity, including whether or not a cheating spouse should keep their affair under wraps in order to avoid “publicly humiliating” the other party, prompting Ana Navarro to declare:
I’m not touching this with a 10-foot pole.
T.J. Holmes’ estranged wife Marilee Fiebig broke her silence about the situation after the divorce papers were filed, saying via her attorney that she was disappointed with Holmes’ “lack of discretion, respect and sensitivity toward Marilee and the party's daughter.” Amy Robach’s husband, Melrose Place actor Andrew Shue has not spoken publicly but did appear with his sons in a family photo without Robach over the holiday.
CBS’ Gayle King has also shared her thoughts on the brouhaha, saying it’s gotten “sloppy,” as some of Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes’ other colleagues at ABC, including David Muir, apparently also have strong feelings.
As we await ABC News’ decision on what’s next for GMA3 and its benched co-hosts, you can still catch the program weekdays on Good Morning America’s third hour (check your local listings). Also be sure to take a peek at our 2023 TV schedule to see what premieres are coming soon.
