Eamonn Holmes lashes out at ITV, claims exit due to one senior figure's 'agenda'

And the Belfast-born host (62) has blasted as ‘propaganda’ claims he was pushed out because he was seen as old hat by viewers.

“I left This Morning with my reputation damaged, but my confidence didn’t suffer,’’ he said.

“I won’t have propaganda and lies said against me — you know, ‘Oh, Eamonn’s got old, Eamonn’s male, pale and stale’. One person in authority didn’t like me and had an agenda, and that was it.

“You don’t have to be any good in TV, you just have to have someone in authority that likes you — and I had someone in authority who didn’t like me.”

His blast comes after he recently branded ITV “sly” and accused it of hypocrisy over its diversity drive.

He stopped short in an interview with a Saturday newspaper of naming the person in “authority” he claims disliked him.

But he has accused bosses at the channel of hypocrisy over their diversity drive and in April said its veteran breakfast host Phillip Schofield (60) was “passive-aggressive” and had a habit of “snubbing people”.

Eamonn co-hosted ITV’s Friday instalment of This Morning for 15 years with his wife Ruth Langsford (62.)

They also covered for regular hosts Schofield and Holly Willoughby (41) during the holidays.

But the longstanding TV couple were replaced in 2021 by Alison Hammond (47) and Dermot O’Leary (48.)

Eamonn also accused ITV bosses of making it look as if he had walked away and said he was left with “no idea” or explanation for his axing.

His other big controversies included telling a Sunday newspaper in 1997 that Anthea Turner (61) — his sidekick on the now-defunct GMTV — was “horrid” and “unbearable”.

“It’s laughable now, but at the time it was deadly serious for both of us. Anthea and I have made up since, and we’re very good friends,’’ he said.

“It could have cost both of us our jobs, but the station probably secretly relished the publicity.”

Eamonn has never been shy about saying what he thinks, and won’t be changing that anytime soon.

“It always amazes me in this ‘woke’ world we live in that so many things are unacceptable, but yet you can make jokes about people who are bald.

“I opened up a paper the other day to find a picture of the back of Prince William’s head with the pun ‘the hair unapparent’.

“You can joke about baldness, weight, drink and drugs, but there’s so many things you can’t say.”