BREAKING LOOSE
Coleen Nolan’s ‘hellish’ divorce & Linda Robson’s celibacy… Curse of Loose Women as Ruth Langsford & Eamonn Holmes split
Coleen Nolan even discovered her ex-husband's affair in a phone call from his mistress’s mum
WE'RE all familiar with the Strictly curse but it seems that Loose Women could be under the same unlucky in love spell.
Ruth Langsford is the latest star of the ITV show to split from her husband, revealing this weekend that she and Eamonn Holmes have separated after 14 years of marriage.
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The TV couple - who share son Jack, 22 - released a statement which read: In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson said: “Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes have confirmed their marriage is over and they are in the process of divorcing.”
This morning, Eamonn, 64, was back on GB News and thanked fans for their support, adding it had been an "emotional weekend."
But Ruth, 64, will be getting plenty of support from her fellow Loose Women stars, who have all faced marriage problems of their own.
In November, Linda Robson, 65, went her separate ways from husband Mark Dunford after 33 years of marriage, saying "enough is enough."
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Fellow panellist Coleen Nolan split from husband Ray Fensome after spending months trying to save her marriage of ten years and Janet Street-Porter revealed she regretted two of her four marriages.
Here we look inside marriage splits plaguing the daytime show.
Coleen Nolan
Coleen wed Shane Richie in 1990, but they went on to divorce in 1999 after she discovered the devastating news of her ex-husband Shane Richie’s affair in a phone call from his mistress’s mum.
Speaking on Loose Women, she recalled: “After two years of finding things out and getting back together, the thing that got me was when the girl he was seeing’s mum phoned and said, ‘Do you know where Shane is?’”
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After replying that he was on a work trip, the woman replied: “No, he’s on holiday with my daughter.”
Coleen, who shares two sons Shane, 27, and Jake, 24, with the EastEnders actor, added: “I was so calm. It was that instant moment when I thought that’s it. My heart shut down.”
Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes admitted they 'needed space' from each other in unearthed interview years before split
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She then tied the knot with Ray Fensome in 2007, but the pair went their separate ways in 2018 after ten years of marriage, with Coleen describing the end of their relationship as "hellish."
"Me and my husband Ray are divorcing.
"There is too much dividing me and Ray. We can’t go back. And my future is going to be very different to the one I’d imagined back then," she wrote in the .
She added: "I deserve to be happy. Everyone does. And once you know your marriage is truly dead you need to make your peace with that, bury the past and move on.
"After 17 years together that’s what I’m about to do."
Janet Street-Porter
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The 76-year-old first married Tim Street-Porter in 1967, before divorcing him in 1975.
She then went on to tie the knot with Time Out founder Tony Elliott later the same year, but her second marriage only lasted two years.
After wedding her third husband, documentary film maker Frank Cvitanovich, in 1979, she again divorced him two years later, before marrying David Sorkin in 1997.
But, keeping with the same pattern, she divorced him two years later, too.
During an episode of Loose Women, Janet admitted her first husband, who she'd been married to for six or seven years, caught her cheating with another man.
"I was having an affair and he tracked me down to this cottage in the New Forest," she recalled.
"There was a knock on the door... luckily I had all my clothes on and he said: 'Right I know what you've been up to we won't discuss it if you get in the car in three minutes and we'll drive to London and no more will be said about it.'"
The journalist also revealed she had cold feet ahead of two of her weddings, but it was too late.
"I’ve had cold feet but after the wedding," she explained, during an episode of the ITV talk show.
"I’ve had it twice. Once with my second wedding, I really, really adored my husband, we lived together for two years.
"But I think the wedding was just an excuse for a really good party, we had an excellent party, loads of friends came and we had a fantastic time."
However, the next morning as Janet got up to clean her kitchen floor, it hit her that they shouldn't have made things official
She explained: "I turned to him and said ‘well that was a mistake’. Within 24 hours and he said ‘I agree’.
"I said ‘we were such great friends, exactly the same age, why on earth did we get married?’"
Janet also experienced that same feeling with her fourth marriage.
She said: "The only other time I had that was obviously number four, but as it was happening at 3.30 in the morning in Las Vegas I thought ‘I don’t know why I’m saying the words ‘I do’ but I’m just saying I do’ then I was back in the hotel and I was like 'ugh'.
"By the time I got to Los Angeles someone said who’s that man you’re with and I said a mistake, two days later. A big mistake."
Linda Robson
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The Birds of a Feather star left Loose Women viewers gobsmacked when she admitted to being celibate for two years - despite being married to husband Mark Dunford.
However, the 65-year-old actress has since squashed any rumours by confirming to Woman magazine that she is now single.
"He’s a really good dad and we had some good years, but enough is enough," she said.
"I’ve got my family and my kids around me. And I’m going on a cruise with Lesley Joseph in November. I’m keeping busy. I feel fine. I’m just going away on trips all the time.
"I’m not interested [in dating] honestly. I can’t be a***d with all that."
In the past, Linda admitted how her social media addiction nearly ended her marriage.
Speaking in 2021, the TV star, who shares two children - singer-songwriter Louis, 31, and Roberta, 27 - with Mark, said: "It is really addictive. I was addicted to social media, do you remember? I wouldn't go anywhere without my phone.
"I'd wake up in the middle of the night and be looking at social media.
"I mean, it nearly ended my marriage because we'd be sitting watching a film and I'd be on my phone. He would be like, 'Are you going to watch with me or not?' and then he'd go out."
Linda was in a relationship with Tony Tyler for 11 years prior to Mark, and they had a daughter called Lauren in 1983.
Ruth and Eamonn Relationship Timeline
Before the shock split announcement, Ruth and Eamonn seemed like one of the strongest couples on UK TV – even with their signature bickering style. Here's how their romance played out.
1997 - The couple first meet after being introduced by mutual friends, two years after Eamonn splits from his first wife, Gabrielle, with whom he has three children.
1997-2002 - To be respectful to Gabrielle, the couple kept their relationship out of the limelight. Ruth told : "I thought it spoke volumes about the sort of man he was, the sort of father he was and the integrity he had. It made me love him more, not less."
2002 - Ruth and Eamonn welcome their son, Jack, to the family
2005 - Eamonn finalises his divorce with Gabrielle
2006 - The pair begin to host Friday episodes of This Morning together
2010 - Eamonn proposes to Ruth while at the Cheltenham Races, after asking Ruth's mother for her hand
June 2010 - Eamonn and Ruth marry at Elvetham Hall, Hampshire
2016 - Eamonn undergoes a double hip replacement in the first of many health battles.
June 2019 - On This Morning, Ruth and Eamonn say the secret to their happy marriage. Eamonn credits "compromise, consideration and lots of conjugals," while Ruth said it was "laughter and an equal marriage"
November 2020 - Ruth and Eamonn are replaced on their regular Friday slot by Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary in a 'show shake-up'
December 2021 - After a year of being moved to the bank holiday presenting slot, both Eamonn and Ruth left This Morning
January 2022 - Eamonn makes his debut on GB News, while Ruth stayed with ITV in her long-standing role on Loose Women.
September 2022 - Eamonn undergoes spinal surgery after years of back issues including a trapped sciatic nerve.
November 2022 - Eamonn falls down the stairs of his Surrey home with Ruth and breaks his shoulder, requiring a new operation
September 2023 - Eamonn has a spine and neck stretching procedure as part of his year-long recovery
May 2024 - Ruth and Eamonn announce they have split after 14 years of marriage and 27 year relationship
Denise Welch
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Denise Welch tied the knot with third husband Lincoln Townley in 2013 with a fairytale wedding in the Algarve, Portugal.
"My most brilliant achievement was persuading Denise to marry me.
"I turned 40 last year and I have never met anyone like Denise, never been close to anyone like Denise, never loved anyone like I do Denise," he said at the time, speaking to the .
However, it wasn't Denise's first rodeo, as she'd previously wed David Easter in 1983, who she split with in 1988, and she married Benidorm star Tim Healy later that year, before they divorced in 2012.
Speaking of her split from second husband Tim, who she shares two kids with - 1975 band member Matthew Timothy, born in 1989, and Louis Vincent, born in 2001 - she revealed: “Tim and I separated some time ago. I’m not having an affair – we’ve been living our own lives for some time now.
“Tim and I feel a sense of relief that we don’t have to hide this any more. We’ve actually become better friends since we made the decision. But we wanted to have Christmas with the family without telling anybody."
She later admitted they'd both been unfaithful, saying: "My husband and I both agree we held on far too long and we were making each other miserable and thankfully we’ve now got a great friendship.
"I genuinely used to think that being unfaithful wasn’t the worst thing you could do in a relationship. There were infidelities on both sides… which you girls know about."
Andrea McLean
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Andrea split from her first husband Nick Green, with whom she shares son Finlay, in 2005 after five years of marriage.
She later wed Steve Toms in 2009 and went on to have daughter Amy together, but things weren't meant to be and they filed for divorce in 2011.
Talking about the breakdown of her second marriage in 2012, Andrea admitted: “Steve and I had grown apart and we both knew it. We’d tried so many times to make it work, but it was hopeless.
“We held it together over Christmas for the kids but then on Boxing Day I took them to stay with my parents – and that was the end.
“I’m still in shock. When I hear myself talking about ‘my first marriage breakdown’ then ‘this time round’ the words are like a stab in the heart.
"Because I simply can’t believe I’m in this position again.
"People think I’m Snow White… the most boring person in the world! I’ve only ever slept with two men and I married them both."
However, Andrea has since gone on to find love with business partner Nick Feeney, who she wed in 2018, after four years of dating.
"I never thought I'd feel like this again, that I'd fall in love and get the chance to start a new life," she told
"It's been a revelation to him too. And because we make each other so happy, it's changed our lives.
"So many people have commented on how much more positive I've become since I met him. Thanks to Nick, I'm no longer looking backwards, I'm looking forwards."
Nadia Sawhala
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Nadia Sawalha revealed husband Mark wanted to divorce her because of the menopause.
The TV personality took to Instagram and said: "I've come in here into the bathroom so that Mark can't hear me but we were just filming our podcast and he said that there was a point in my menopause where he thought about divorcing me.
"Apparently I was being very, very difficult. Me? Difficult? In my menopause? What the hell does he mean?
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"I could really smash this whole house up, I could really tear my own hair out, I could really kick the car in - those are all perfectly reasonable things to say.
"Anyway, it was a bit of a shock but I acted really cool when he told me it."
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