TJ Holmes hints he and Amy Robach are banned from Disney parks since GMA3 scandal

TJ Holmes has suggested he and Amy Robach are not “allowed” to visit Disney theme parks after they were ousted from ABC over rumours of an alleged affair.

During a recent episode of their joint podcast, Amy & TJ, the former GMA3: What You Need To Know co-hosts spoke with The Bachelor alum Matt James about his love for running. James revealed that he was “going to run the London Marathon” in April 2024 and wanted his girlfriend, Rachael Kirkconnell, to join him in another 5K race at a Disney theme park.

“I am going to try to get Rachael into a race - the Disney 5K. She loves Disney so any way to entice her into not being mad about me buying so many running shoes,” the 32-year-old said. In response, Holmes hinted that he and Robach are unable to join the couple.

“We would love to run with you down at that 5K. I don’t think we are allowed on the park’s grounds anymore,” he said. “We will check. Last we checked, we weren’t.”

In December 2022, Holmes and Robach were removed from the air amid reports they were involved in a romantic relationship. At the time, the Daily Mail published photos of them on multiple outings and trips together. It was reported that Holmes had separated from his now ex-wife, Marilee Fiebig, in August, while Robach and her husband of 12 years, Andrew Shue, also broke up that same month.

Following reports of their relationship, ABC News president Kim Godwin made the executive decision to pull the GMA3 co-anchors off the air, as the network reportedly referred to their rumoured relationship as “an internal and external disruption”.

Weeks later, Holmes and Robach officially exited the network. “After several productive conversations with Amy Robach and TJ Holmes about different options, we all agreed it’s best for everyone that they move on from ABC News,” a spokesperson for ABC News told The Independent in January 2023. “We recognise their talent and commitment over the years and are thankful for their contributions.”

Last December, Holmes and Robach announced they were launching a podcast together with iHeartRadio. In the first podcast episode - which hit streaming platforms on 5 December 2023, exactly one year after they were taken off the air - the couple addressed rumours surrounding their relationship.

Holmes referred to himself and Robach as the “folks who lost the jobs we love because we love each other” during the episode. However, he maintained that his relationship with Robach came after his split from Fiebig. “Everyone else thought we were being outed as adulterous, being outed as cheating on our spouses and it wasn’t the case,” he said. “Because the odd thing is that the day those pictures were taken and the day that article was released, we had both, at that point, been in divorce proceedings.”

Robach explained that they had “attorneys [and] mediators” and “were in the middle of divorces”. She added that her ex-husband had moved out of their home “three months” before the pictures of her and Holmes were released.

The pair went on to recall the message they received in December 2022, when they learned they were being taken off the air. “We each got a phone call from our bosses saying that they had made the decision, and they made it again a point to say we hadn’t violated any company policy, but because we had become a distraction that they thought it would be best if they temporarily took us off the air to let things quiet down,” Robach said. “And I remember I said: ‘Oh please, no… if you do this, this is going to create a whole new round of articles.”

She added: “I was sick to my stomach because we knew what was coming once that announcement was made.”

Holmes said once he received the phone call about the suspension, he had a feeling that he and Robach wouldn’t be returning to ABC at all. “That was the morning we knew we would not be going back to that network,” he said. “We knew that phone call sealed it, because you can’t come back from that.”

The Independent has contacted ABC and the Walt Disney Company for comment.