Don Lemon has offered his support for his former colleague T.J. Holmes amid his romance with his GMA3 co-anchor Amy Robach.
“I’ll say this, I know T.J., I worked with T.J. at CNN, so I have nothing but love for him and I hope that he’s OK,” Lemon told Entertainment Tonight. “I don’t know about their situation, I’m not privy enough, but I just like to offer people love and support and I hope that they’re OK and hope that they continue to prosper.”
After the news of their relationship went public, ABC made the decision to temporarily take them off the air. When asked if he would like them to return to the show soon, Lemon added, “I hope so. And I hope that I can see them in person again soon so I can give ‘em a hug.”
Gio Benitez and Stephanie Ramos filled in for the couple on Monday, and the reasoning for their absence was not directly addressed. “Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes have the day off,” said Ramos upon starting the show.
“I want to say that while that relationship is not a violation of company policy, I have really taken the last few days to think about and work through what I think is best for the ABC News organization,” ABC president Kim Goodwin said during a company-wide meeting this week. “This is something … 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. You know, we can’t operate with gossip, and speculation and rumors. We need to stay focused on the work.”
Reports of their relationship first surfaced last week, alongside photos that showed them holding hands in upstate New York. Neither of the anchors have publicly addressed the situation, and have since deactivated their Instagram accounts.