Eamonn Holmes has furiously hit back after being accused of getting his co-host Isabel Webster axed from GB News.
The TV star, 65, made the comment after Isabel left the show amid a channel shakeup and claims her relationship with the channel’s bosses turned sour.
Webster, 41, was replaced on the channel’s breakfast show by 31-year-old Ellie Costello, dubbed as the organization’s ‘own Holly Willoughby’.
The shock shake-up was one of a number of changes made by Britain’s newest news channel, as Jacob Rees-Mogg saw his hours cut and Mark Dolan replaced on his weekend show.
And as Eamonn returned to work on Monday after the Christmas and New Year break he posted a snap with new co-host Ellie.
In his caption, he lauded Ellie Costello, 31, for being ‘fresh, bright and different’.
Eamonn Holmes has furiously hit back after being accused of getting his co-host Isabel Webster sacked from GB News
Webster, 41, was replaced on the channel’s breakfast show by 31-year-old Ellie Costello, dubbed as the organization’s ‘own Holly Willoughby ‘
He wrote: ‘A New Year , a new day and a new Breakfast line up on @GBNews .
‘It’s now Eamonn and @EllieCostellotv from 6 to 9.30 . It’s Fresh , bright , different and I hope we have your company on TV, online, on your smartphone, on your Radio and by asking your smart device to play GB News. Please join us and say Hello.’
One angry troll then wrote under the post in the comments section: ‘Your mate got sacked for not being right wing enough and you sat back and did nothing. With friends like you…’
But Eamonn then furiously shot back: ‘And u know nothing!’
Back in December Isabel was replaced as Eamonn’s co-host after her relationship with the channel’s bosses turned sour, insiders revealed.
According to The Sun, Webster’s shock exit was caused by a secret feud with her employees over her working hours.
The presenter ‘wasn’t happy’ that the channel’s senior chiefs were expecting her to increase her days on-screen from three to five a week and ‘refused to bow to demands’.
‘It had become a sticking point in negotiations and was causing tension behind the scenes,’ an insider told The Sun.
Eamonn returned to work on Monday after the Christmas and New Year break he posted a snap with new co-host Ellie. In his caption, he lauded Ellie Costello, 31, for being ‘fresh, bright and different’
One angry troll then wrote under the post in the comments section: ‘Your mate got sacked for not being right wing enough and you sat back and did nothing’
But Eamonn then furiously shot back: ‘And u know nothing!’
The TV star, 65, made the comment after Isabel left the show amid a channel shakeup and claims her relationship with the channel’s bosses turned sour
Eamonn’s new GB News co-host is Ellie (seen together). The pair have ‘great chemistry’, one insider said last month
‘Eamonn’s obviously the main star of the show and likes to be in charge – he’s now looking forward to working with Ellie who’s a young talent he can help mould as her career progresses.’
Responding to these claims, A GB News spokesman said: ‘This is completely untrue.’
Talks between Webster and GB News broke down at the end of last year and she was subsequently axed from the company, a decision which ‘blindsided’ her colleague Holmes.
The pair had just finished their final show of the year and they were allegedly planning to celebrate Christmas together.
But she was immediately replaced by Costello – who will join Holmes from Monday to Wednesday and Stephen Dixon on Thursday and Fridays.
Holmes then gave a ‘savage’ response to Webster’s sacking, replying ‘Bye my girl x’ to a tweet about her departure.
Insiders said the post failed to properly pay tribute to a
colleague he had worked with since the show launched in 2022.
The pair were said to be ‘good friends’ and ‘worked well together’, but questions have now been raised about their relationship after their ‘wasn’t a gushing post’ about Webster’s exit.
Holmes will continue to work three days a week as it’s ‘always the bigger name who works fewer days on-screen’, another source told The Sun.
Another senior figure at GB News told MailOnline at the time that bosses at the channel deemed Webster to be ‘too woke’ and left-wing.
Another insider told MailOnline: ‘Ellie Costello is GB News’ Holly Willoughby. The bosses and Eammon want to mould her. Plus, Eamonn and have Ellie have great chemistry’.
Elsewhere on the channel, Ben Leo, 34, will take over from Mark Dolan, 50, who revealed he had been sacked from his regular show on a Saturday and Sunday night.
Former Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was paid £300,000-plus last year, is another GB News presenter to be hit by changes at the station.
He had been hosting his State of the Nation programme four nights a week – on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. But now he will only do Mondays and Tuesdays.
‘Jacob is too expensive – and his viewing figures are not great either’, one source said.
Pre-tax losses at GB News reached £42.4million in 2023 – up from £30.7million in 2022.
It was also hit with a £100,000 fine by broadcast regulator Ofcom over an ‘egregious’ breach of broadcasting rules during a Q&A with Rishi Sunak.
Webster, a former BBC broadcaster, was one of GB News’ star hires from Sky News in 2021 but she is now leaving after just over three years.
In other changes Mr Rees-Mogg, paid £324,000 by GB News last year, will now be doing two nights instead of four
Presenter Mark Dolan also announced that he had been ‘relieved from his duties’
‘Isabel was too woke and not on message’, one senior insider told MailOnline.
Presenter Dolan also announced that he had been ‘relieved from his duties’.
‘Mark’s viewing figures were not good’, the same source said, but added that his show had been up against Strictly Come Dancing.
Dolan has vowed to ‘speak publicly about this in due course’, but has remained silent 24 hours on. One insider said that his flip-flopping on Brexit over the years had not helped him with bosses and some viewers.
Ben Leo will replace him from January. He will also continue to co-host Britain’s Newsroom on a Friday.
