The GB News presenter worked two jobs after landing his first TV role at 21, fearing his television career wouldn’t last
Eamonn Holmes may have enjoyed a career in broadcasting for decades but the Irish TV host could have ended up woith a very different career.
When he was younger, he had an evening job that he continued even as his broadcasting career began to take shape, until his boss eventually urged him to concentrate solely on his television ambitions.
His first foray into television came in 1979 as a reporter and presenter for Ulster Television (UTV) in Northern Ireland, a springboard from which his career would go on to flourish considerably.
Yet Eamonn remained so anxious that his television career might suddenly dry up that he was reluctant to abandon his pub work, showing absolutely no urgency to hand in his notice before he ultimately did relinquish his evening shifts to dedicate himself fully to broadcasting.
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Speaking to the Express at the Young Chef, Young Waiter, Young Mixologist awards where he was a judge, Eamonn reflected: “Nobody in the UK had been given tea time programmes at 21, so when I did, it went in my favour.
“But I was working in a pub, and the head barman said to me, ‘what is this? You serve them up the news until seven o’clock and then you’re in here at 7.30pm’.”
He recalled his response to his manager at the time: “But does this TV business ever last?”
The barman firmly assured him it would, encouraged him to share a drink, and told him to chase his dreams, with Eamonn concluding: “That was my last night in the bar.”
Eamonn credits his bar work with helping him break into television, explaining that it drew out his character and taught him the art of conversing with people.
He explained: “It taught me to be more relaxed with a TV audience and how to talk to people in television, so that was amazing. It was a bit strange, I didn’t know anybody who was in television or presenting, but that’s what happened.”
His breakthrough in Ireland marked just the beginning of his television journey, joining the BBC in 1986 before moving to GMTV in 1993, where he remained until 2005 while simultaneously taking on numerous other television projects, including stints on Sky News, the BBC programme Jet Set, and occasional appearances on GMB.
Eamonn’s latest position has seen him comfortably settled at GB News presenting the breakfast programme.
GB News’s Breakfast Show is on weekdays at 6am

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