Anthea Turner reveals off-camera tensions with Eamonn Holmes during GMTV years
Turner says Holmes looked down on her training and grew jealous of her success on the National Lottery Live; the pair’s on-air partnership was shadowed by off-camera friction, later reconciled
Anthea Turner has described what she claims was Eamonn Holmes’s off-camera behavior during their GMTV years, saying he looked down on her training and grew jealous of her success when she hosted the National Lottery Live.
Turner, now 65, told The Times that 'Eamonn is a trained journalist and I'm not. That caused tension from the start,' and recalled joining the GMTV Good Morning sofa in 1994 as her profile rose. The sentiment, she said, extended to how ambition was discussed in the newsroom, with women repeatedly branded as 'ambitious' or 'hormonal' while men were not subjected to the same scrutiny. In remarks reported by The Sun, she explained that when she acknowledged ambition, she was portrayed as ruthless—'the kind of person who would walk over anybody to get where I wanted'—while a similar claim about a male colleague would be dismissed.
The National Lottery Live, which Turner hosted from 1994 to 1996, drew about 22 million viewers at its peak. Yet Holmes allegedly sought to have her sacked by GMTV bosses, branding her 'too ambitious.' Turner says the tension intensified as her public profile rose, and she recalls being confronted with labels that contrasted with how male ambition was treated.
The strain reached a breaking point in 1996, when Holmes issued an ultimatum to GMTV bosses that preceded Turner’s departure from the show. She was replaced by Fiona Phillips, effectively ending her GMTV tenure. Turner has said the atmosphere around the two presenters became physically ill for her to attend work at times, describing the environment as hostile during the peak of the friction.
Earlier this year, Holmes reunited with Turner for a lighthearted Instagram post that appeared to signal an end to their long-running feud. The two had previously been at odds for roughly a decade, with a public reconciliation coming in 2005. In 2018, Turner appeared on This Morning alongside Eamonn and Ruth Langsford, addressing the episode that had become a touchstone of their on-screen dynamic. During that conversation, Holmes noted, 'Well you are an ex of mine and we're on good terms, some people think we hate each other.' Turner added, 'Ruth's not bothered at all.' Ruth Langsford replied, 'No, we’re married, we’re properly married,' while Turner quipped, 'Yes, but we were on screen husband and wife.' The duo discussed the ease of staying friends, with Langsford observing, 'There is a fine line between hate and love isn't there? We were chatting in the break, Eamonn and I are a bit lazy and it's easier to stay friends.'
The account German-era of GMTV—characterized by high-profile personalities and evolving gender dynamics—has continued to be revisited in recent interviews and retrospectives. Turner’s reflections offer aWindows into the pressures women faced in British daytime television during the 1990s, a period when audience appetite for big-name talent collided with newsroom hierarchies and the gendered expectations attached to ambition. The broader narrative surrounding Turner and Holmes's era at GMTV underscores how off-camera tensions can shape career trajectories as much as on-air chemistry does, and how reconciliation can emerge years later through public acknowledgment and renewed personal boundaries.