TV presenter Eamonn Holmes has enjoyed a long career in front of the camera and chatted to everyone from regular people to Hollywood stars. Alongside his wife and co-presenter Ruth Langsford, he fills in for Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on Friday's This Morning, a gig he's held for the last 13 years. Before that, though, the star worked at Sky and on ITV's former breakfast show GMTV – and it's this latter experience that led to an interview he vividly remembers for all the wrong reasons.
The presenter regrets not standing up to David Blaine more back in 2001
In an interview with Digital Spy on Friday, the 60-year-old reflected on the highs and lows of his job and named interviewing American magician David Blaine as one of his worst experiences, saying: "It doesn’t get much worse than that." The infamous chat took place in 2001 and saw David refuse to speak for most of the interview, putting the presenter in an increasingly awkward position.
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Eamonn has worked in TV for 40 years
The dad-of-four asked him about how he pulled off everything from card magic to large-scale illusions, to which the magician didn't provide a response, as well as probing him about how he sees himself and how others react to him. David finally responded to the question, "When you were growing up did you see yourself as different in any way?" by mumbling: "I didn't think of it like that," and also clarified that he saw himself as "Just a showman", but there was very little verbal interaction between the two men and it became well-known as an example of an interview gone wrong.
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However, looking back, Eamonn said he learned a lot from the experience – and that he would do a better job if given the opportunity now! He explained: "I learnt how I would deal with things and realised that as presenters, I was brought up in a time where you ask questions and that’s all you did. Now presenters give opinions and you have a narrative and a performance so I could definitely handle David Blaine better today, in a rematch."
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