T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach are getting yanked from hosting “Good Morning America’s” third hour amid a bombshell report that the coworkers were having an affair, sources told The Post.
During an editorial call on Monday, ABC News President Kim Godwin told staff that while the affair was not a “violation of company policy,” it also had become “an internal and external distraction,” according to TMZ.
The Daily Mail, which first reported the news Monday morning, said Stephanie Ramos and Gio Benitez will host “GMA3” this week while ABC execs figure out how to handle the PR nightmare.
“I have really taken the last few days to think about and work through what I think is best for the ABC News organization,” Godwin reportedly told staffers. “This is something I’m not going to talk, we’re not going to talk about on this call until there is more to be said.
“I’m asking that we stop the whispering in the hallways,” Godwin added. “You know, we can’t operate with gossip, and speculation and rumors. We need to stay focused on the work.”
A rep for “GMA3” did not respond to requests for comment.
Over the weekend, Entertainment Tonight published a report that Holmes had an affair with a former “GMA” producer that lasted for a few years before his romance with Robach.
A source said this report, in addition to last week’s mess, contributed to Monday’s decision to sideline the co-anchors.
Multiple sources told Page Six that the alleged affair has not gone down well with top “GMA” anchor Robin Roberts, who is “not only very religious, but also doesn’t like this kind of scandal tainting the show.”
Page Six reported that Roberts, 62, had confronted Robach, 49, and Holmes, 45, about the affair. An insider told Page Six that Roberts “pulled them both aside and basically said, ‘Stop it.’”
As previously reported by The Post, ABC News president Godwin and other top execs at ABC were trying to figure out what to do. Last week, they were frantically holed up in “emergency meetings” as videos and photos of the duo canoodling first leaked in the Daily Mail.
Sources close to ABC told The Post that Godwin was unaware of the fling.
Although the co-anchors appeared unfazed by news of their romance when they hosted the show on Friday, Page Six reported that Robach and her husband, actor Andrew Shue, were getting a divorce.
It is not clear how Shue or Holmes’ wife, attorney Marilee Fiebig, learned of the affair, but sources told Page Six that the couples have been separated since August.
On Friday, after “GMA3’s” taping, Robach was seen moving out of the New York City home she once shared with Shue, where she broke her silence on the controversy for the first time.
When asked if she had anything to say, Robach told a reporter from the Daily Mail: “It’s been great. I’ve gotten a lot of support. And, you know, I appreciate everything, and I’m happy to be going to work,” before getting into a black service car.
Last week, sources told The Post that the duo will likely “keep their jobs” amid the fallout from their affair and that the network will benefit from all the attention the story is getting.
“It’s ultimately about the ratings,” the source said, adding that based on the attention this story is getting, “ratings are going to go through the roof.”
On the call with editorial, Godwin added: “If you think there is something that management needs to know, you can always call HR or, as we’ve said, talk to a manager that you trust. If you think there is something that we need to know.”
