GB News presenter Eamonn Holmes has been rushed to hospital after suffering a stroke, and the former This Morning star has been open about his health struggles in the past
Eamonn Holmes is confronting another health crisis to add to his mounting difficulties. The former This Morning presenter was rushed to hospital this weekend after experiencing a stroke.
The GB News host, 66, has been missing from his breakfast programme in recent weeks. A health bulletin was released by the broadcaster on Saturday as they delivered a statement.
It read: “Eamonn was taken ill last week and it was later confirmed he had suffered a stroke. He is currently responding well to treatment. Eamonn has asked for privacy as he focuses on getting better. His colleagues and everyone at GB News wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming him back to the People’s Channel when he is ready to return.”
The medical crisis is the most recent in an extensive catalogue of health problems that Eamonn has endured. In a profoundly emotional comment made in 2024, the Belfast-born broadcaster hinted he was existing on “borrowed time” amid his declining health, excruciating chronic pain and his public separation from Ruth Langsford. Despite this, Eamonn revealed he had contemplated skipping the TRIC Awards that year due to the agony he was experiencing, reports the Express.
At the ceremony, Eamonn, who turned up in a wheelchair equipped with numerous “gadgets”, acknowledged he was “not OK” and it was “not a good time at all”.
He additionally revealed information about a surgical operation and how he had “two things in my back I don’t want”. Speaking to The Mirror, he said: “I wasn’t going to come, but I’ve got this new chair with all these gadgets. I had an operation a year and a half ago, and two things went wrong so I have two things in my back I don’t want. So I’ll happily accept this.”
At a later time, speaking on the Session 7 podcast, Eamonn said: “I’m sick. I’m in a wheelchair. That’s been horrendous to deal with for two years. Certainly I don’t think TV wants to know you when, I mean there’s nothing – you and I are talking and no one can tell there’s anything wrong, but I can’t get up.”
Double hip replacement
In 2016, it emerged that Eamonn had received a double hip replacement after having “lived with acute pain for so long”, leaving him “limping and dragging” his leg and unable to stand for extended periods or walk considerable distances.
Throughout the previous five years, Eamonn had been unable to watch his son Jack, whom he shares with Ruth, play golf, according to the Mail. He was similarly incapable of standing on the sideline alongside other fathers at football matches.
He told the publication: “They’re all standing and I’m sitting there like an old man in the sturdy folding picnic chair.”
Shingles
Eamonn previously revealed to Loose Women his struggle with shingles in 2018 and how he was compelled to oversee his son Declan’s wedding while battling the agonising viral rash which was triggered by the varicella zoster virus. His shingles outbreak was reportedly so severe that he was unable to host This Morning, with images of his face showing swelling, scabs and red marks being broadcast on screen.
He joked: “This is me with shingles looking like Quasimodo there and as you can see from that, it’s quite brutal.” Shingles is a serious infection that can cause a painful rash.
Chronic back pain
In 2021, the presenter revealed the challenges he was facing due to back pain, a condition he described at the time as stemming from a “trapped sciatic nerve”, although he confessed he didn’t know “quite how it initially happened”. He disclosed that his condition was significantly affecting his family life, expressing concern that his children were occasionally left “embarrassed” as he struggled to move around using crutches and a walking stick, confessing to the Sun: “I don’t walk – it’s more of a wobble. It has been very difficult this year.”
Eamonn further shared that he had been unable to walk for several months, and his condition had “taken its toll” on those closest to him, including Ruth, who found herself having to look after him.
Back operation
A year later, Eamonn was forced to step back from his presenting role at GB News to undergo back surgery, having previously spoken candidly about his struggles following a dislocated pelvis which resulted in three slipped discs.
In a candid confession to the Express, Eamonn revealed how the operation would “hopefully relieve pressure” on his sciatic nerve, despite the inherent dangers.
He explained: “It’s an operation that carries a 20 percent risk of going wrong, but such is the pain and restrictions that I have been suffering for the past 18 months, I’ve decided it is a risk I am willing to take.
“In fact, it’s a risk I want to take because, at this moment in time, nothing could seem worse than the constant pain that runs through my lower back and legs.”
Fractured shoulder
However, during that same year, he endured another blow when he broke his shoulder following a tumble at his then-Surrey residence, though he stayed resolute about “trying to look on the bright side”. Speaking to GB News, he said: “It’s been a hellish few weeks. But day by day I’m improving and I am remaining positive and trying to look on the bright side.”
Eamonn revealed that he would need “extra time off” to recover, before lauding the NHS personnel treating him as “amazing”.
He continued: “Also, I really must say a heartfelt thank you to the doctors and nursing staff who have been looking after me. They all are amazing. God bless.”
Eye surgery
In an unexpected twist just two months ago in October, it came to light that Eamonn had undergone surgery for an eye injury. He shared the news on his Instagram account, uploading pictures of his bandaged eye. Although he opted not to disclose the cause of the injury at the time, he did mention that one patch was “put on in hospital”, and that he’d added a second, cheekily commenting you “should see the other guy”.
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