This Morning viewers slam Eamonn Holmes as he DEFENDS pal Richard Keys for cheating on ex-wife Julia with their daughter's best friend during heated interview
Eamonn Holmes attracted the ire of a number of This Morning viewers on Friday, as he defended his pal Richard Keys as he interviewed the presenter's ex-wife Julia.
Julia, 58, made an appearance on the ITV show, where she spoke about 60-year-old Richard's shocking affair with their daughter Jemma's best pal Lucie Jones, 28, which ultimately led to the demise of the couple's 36-year marriage.
However, Eamonn ignited backlash when he suggested that the scorned woman was likely the cause of her own misery in the situation, telling her: 'You have to remember that these men wouldn’t have an affair if it wasn’t for another woman… like you.’
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Ire: Eamonn Holmes, left, attracted ire from viewers after he suggested that Julia Keys, right, may have been to blame for her ex-husband Richard Keys' affair with their daughter's friend
Julia, who appeared on the show to promote her new book The MANScript, also prompted Eamonn to question her honesty, when she revealed that Richard had penned a statement for the tome in which he expressed regret over his infidelity.
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Richard is quoted as stating: 'If you really love your wife but are tempted to get a bit of excitement elsewhere, you have to be prepared to lose the one you really love.'
But Eamonn, who interviewed Julia alongside his wife Ruth Langsford, appeared to go on the attack as he boomed at his guest: 'Excuse me. Is that really true, because Richard is still with Lucie so he wouldn’t be writing that?'
Interview: Julia sat down for an interview with Eamonn and his wife Ruth Langsford during Friday's instalment of ITV's This Morning as she promoted her new book The MANScript
Disgruntled: Soon after Eamonn's comments, disgruntled viewers took to Twitter in droves
And the combination of Eamonn's apparent defence of Richard, as well as his tough questioning of Julia's honesty angered a number of viewers, who took to Twitter in droves to express their displeasure over what had just aired.
'What a shocker... @EamonnHolmes attempted to blame a woman for her husband cheating on her,' wrote one. 'Has anything ever been as predictable?! Her preference is of a man cheating on her so obviously her book is about men! Well done Julia Keys for staying calm.'
Stated another: 'Seriously! Just watched This Morning. Your man from Sky Sports cheated on his wife. Eamonn Holmes face! Could you be more obvious mate! You could cut the tension with a knife. #thismorning#awks#meneh?'
'As if Eamonn Holmes has just sat and defended a husband cheating on his wife,' ranted a third viewer. 'What a despicable piece of s**t.'
Heartache: Two years on, Julia, 58, has spoken about Richard's gut-wrenching betrayal, revealing it 'devastated' her children's world as well as her own
Friendship: The criticism continued to flow in, with viewers pointing out Eamonn's friendship with Richard as a possible reason for him defending the former Sky Sports presenter
During the interview, Julia opened up about the ins and outs of the shocking affair, saying of Richard's mistress Lucie: 'It was difficult in that we knew her, and for our daughter Jemma.'
However, she added that she didn't feel threatened by the fact that her husband was with a woman who was decades her junior.
She said: 'I never felt threatened that she was younger. I would have been more concerned if she were the same age. Age gap relationships don’t end happily. The fantasy becomes reality. All we [older woman] want is simplicity.'
Revealing that reconciliation was floated as a possibility despite the affair, she told Eamonn and Ruth: 'During the time we have been apart we have had opportunities where we have nearly got back together.'
Betrayal: Julia's 36-year marriage came to a crashing end when she discovered her husband was having an affair with her daughter Jemma's (left) best friend Lucie Jones (right)
Recall: She recounted her heartbreaking experience during her televised interview on Friday
View: While many viewers attacked Eamonn, some came to his defence, instead attacking Julia
However, the fact that Richard - who, like Eamonn, once served as a Sky presenter -didn't give up communication with Lucie proved to be a spanner in the works.
'You have to give up the other woman and give up all contact whatsoever,' Julia said. '[But] he didn’t do it. I need to have proof he can be trusted and so he could be 100 per cent transparent.'
She added: 'The man can be on the receiving end of anger and hurt. The one who does the cheating knows that they have to take the heat.'
Julia has relived the experience of Richard's indiscretions in her infidelity survival guide, The MANScript, writing: 'Richard's affair didn't just devastate my world, but the world of our children Jemma and Josh too.
Devastating: Julia revealed that Richard's affair proved to be devastating for the entire family
Questioned: Julia's honesty was questioned by Eamonn when she revealed that Richard had penned a statement for the book, in which he expressed his regrets over his infidelity
The end: It's been two years since news of the shocking affair brought her marriage to an end
'It is only now, two years on, that he has admitted he did have an affair with Lucie, as well as acknowledging his deceit and the damage it has caused.
'In his statement in my book he also has this advice for other men: "If you really love your wife but are tempted to get a bit of excitement elsewhere you have to be prepared to lose the one you really love — it just isn't worth it."
'But for a year and a half he was telling me it was all in my head, that I was imagining it, that I was going mad — lines that I now realise nearly every man comes up with when having an affair.'
Julia went on to say she had been through 'so much' when he started having his affair, having battled thyroid cancer as well as nursing her mum through her final battle with cancer and her father's dementia diagnosis.
Lady in red: Julia was resplendent in a red floral gown for her appearance on the ITV show
The details: Her fun and flirty frock of choice was complemented with pussy bow detailing
Meanwhile, Jemma was struggling alcoholism, with the family sticking by Richard's side when he resigned in disgrace from his £500,000-a-year job presenting Sky Sports in 2011 after making disparaging remarks about female match official Sian Massey-Ellis.
She said: 'We'd moved to Doha in Qatar with Richard's new job (with Al Jazeera's sport channel) and I was thinking of it as a fresh start.
'But then he met Jemma's friend Lucie, who was working in Doha, and the lies began. He claimed she and her friends thought of him as their "Doha Dad".
'I remember at Richard's birthday party — and I haven't told anyone this before — just as I was leaving, Lucie grabbed my arm and said: 'Are you leaving now, Julia?' She was so insistent, and I thought it was odd — then Richard was ages coming home.
Fractured: The family stuck by Richard's side when he resigned in disgrace from his £500,000-a-year job presenting Sky Sports in 2011
'When I questioned him, he'd said Lucie needed to talk to him as she had a problem.'
The author added if she had not urged her estranged husband to undergo an operation in June last year to fix a blocked artery he would have died within a month.
She wrote: 'Richard was lying in hospital near death's door from a heart artery defect, after I had insisted on an early operation which saved his life.
'He was telling me he wanted me back, that we could save our marriage. Yet he'd had dinner with Lucie just the night before the op.'
The star concluded: 'Sadly, for Richard and me, that is not an option, within the past few weeks details of the divorce have been finalised.
'Too much had happened, too many lies have been told.'
Divorced and moving on: Julia said of her marriage's demise, 'Sadly, for Richard and me, that is not an option, within the past few weeks details of the divorce have been finalised'
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