Eamonn Holmes revealed he once told Anne Robinson he would have ‘knocked her f**king head off’ after she claimed he’d ‘sacrificed fatherhood for fame’.
The presenter, 61, revealed that the Countdown and former The Weakest Link host, 76, had angered him after making comments about his parenting without knowing the lengths he went to to be present for his children when they were growing up.
Speaking during an interview on RTE One’s The Meaning of Life on Sunday, Eamonn revealed: ‘This is coming from a man who would fly back from London for his kids’ school sports days, who would take the last flight out of Belfast at 10 o’clock at night when he’d tucked them up in bed at 8pm, you know, who just was there for them all the time at every need for them.
‘And this is the man who went into an airport lounge one Sunday morning, very, very early in Belfast, and there was one other person in that lounge and it was Anne Robinson.
‘I walked over to her and I simply said, very coldly and heartfelt meant, “if you were a bloke, I would knock your f**king head off. I just want you to know that.”’
Eamonn says Ann responded to say that she was ‘only joking’ and told him not to take it seriously, but later apologised for her comments.
He explained: ‘Subsequently Anne Robinson then asked me to sit beside her on the plane and I thought twice about it and I sat down beside her, and we had a very enlightening conversation, a very sensible conversation, and she apologised.
‘What can you do when someone apologises? You are left with a choice whether you forgive or don’t forgive, and I decided to forgive her.’
Eamonn added: ‘I’m a good father. No matter how old my children are – they’re 32, 30, 28 and 18 – I check in with them. I do my best.’
Elsewhere in the interview, Eamonn also broke down in tears while remembering his own father, who had died suddenly from a heart attack, admitting he misses him every day even after 31 years.
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MORE : Eamonn Holmes breaks down in tears remembering his beloved late father: ‘I still miss him every day’