Eamonn Holmes reveals ‘humiliation’ of Queen’s funeral broadcast convinced him to have back surgery

The Belfast man is currently off television screens after undergoing surgery on his back aimed at resolving his chronic pain struggles.

It is expected the 62-year-old will be off air for around eight weeks as a result of his recovery and a reported second injury that came about from a fall he suffered at his Surrey home.

Speaking to his colleague Webster on the news channel’s breakfast show, Holmes updated viewers on his condition and revealed it was covering the Queen’s funeral that convinced him to have the surgery.

“This time last week I was laying on a slab in hospital being operated on,” he said.

“I am one week on from the operation. I have to say rumours of my death have been hugely exaggerated, as Mark Twain would say.

“It is early days, it will probably be about three weeks before they know if it has been a success or not.

“Your [Isabel Webster] actions convinced me. You, my lovely friend, after doing a week’s broadcasting on the Queen’s funeral and you are so professional and fantastic.

“Where we were sitting was a bit of an assault course. It took a lot out of me I have to say.

“There was us on the last day. My lovely dear friend Isabel had to walk me a fair distance. You are one of my dearest friends in life - you go above and beyond the call of duty.

“Humiliating for me. You took me through that crowd. I stumbled a few times, my leg gave way a few times.”

He added: “After that I was very humiliated really and I was humbled. It was an issue for me. I had been living with this injury for 18 months and four times surgeons have said to me: ‘No, there is a 20% risk of this going wrong, we are not going to do it, let it heal itself.’

“But it wasn’t healing itself. It got to the stage where I thought ‘I want my life back’. You convinced me that day I have got to try something.”

Holmes, who is married to Ruth Langsford, has been candid with his health struggles over the last few years.

Writing in September, the father-of-four said he hoped his original surgery would allow him to “go back to the way I was 18 months ago”.

The Northern Irish host joined GB News last year having previously hosted Friday’s This Morning, alongside his wife, for 15 years.

At the end of the interview Holmes emphasised he is “by no means finished”.

“I lived with 18 months with chronic pain. We will see what happens, hopefully this will cure it,” he added.

“This is about disc regeneration in my lower back. The surgery will hopefully put this right. There are so many people who suffer from this and they have to suffer in silence.

“When your back goes you don’t appreciate it until it is gone, then every chair is a hurdle, every sofa is impossible to get out of. That is debilitating and humiliating as well.”