Billy Bush suggests Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes start their own show after ABC exit: 'They've got something that works'
Billy Bush has thoughts on what Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes's next career move should be.
The Extra host expressed his support for the former GMA3 co-hosts, who exited ABC in January after their off-camera romance was made public and deemed a distraction by the network.
"I think they should work together," Bush told TMZ when approached for an impromptu airport interview. "I think they do a great job."
Bush said the couple's chemistry on the morning show "was poppin'" and suggested they pitch their own podcast or TV show to co-host. "They've got something that works."
He went on to criticize the treatment the couple received, saying "people love to wade into other people’s clubhouses." When asked if he thinks they'll find their way back professionally, he said, "I think everybody should find their way back."
On Jan. 27, an ABC spokesperson confirmed to Yahoo Entertainment that the co-hosts had left the network. “After several productive conversations ... about different options, we all agreed it’s best for everyone that they move on from ABC News," the rep said.
They had been off the air since early December after PDA photos of them first surfaced. At the time, it wasn't publicly known that they had separated from their respective spouses — his wife, Marilee Fiebig, and her husband, Andrew Shue. Sources told Yahoo at the time that both separations took place in August. In the weeks after news broke about their relationship and they were taken off the air pending an investigation, there were unverified claims that Holmes had other workplace relationships.
Us Weekly reported that Holmes and Robach were paid out what had been owed to them for the remainder of their contracts. Since they parted ways with the network, they've been photographed cuddling up on different vacations, proving they're going strong despite the scandal.
Bush weighing in on the couple's future comes six years after he faced his own backlash. In October 2016, the Washington Post published video of an unaired 2005 conversation between Donald Trump, then the host of Celebrity Apprentice, and Bush, the then-host of Access Hollywood and a contributor at the Today show. The clip showed Bush laughing as the future president said he may just start kissing the actress they were about to meet. Trump went on to utter his infamous "grab 'em by the p****" remark while talking about how he could do anything to women in general because he was a star. Bush was suspended from his jobs at NBC and then parted ways with the network shortly after.
Three years later, Bush returned to TV at Extra. He recently had another hot mic moment when he made a crass joke about Kendall Jenner, which was leaked. A source close to the situation told Yahoo Entertainment that Bush's remark — a sexual comment about Jenner's Halloween costume — was made in an environment similar to that of a writers room. The comment didn't make it to air.
The TMZ paparazzo asked Bush if he's now learned his lesson about hot mics, and Bush replied that he didn't need to.
"No," he replied, "I'm going to be me and do what I do and if someone’s going to try and leak it, then they’re the loser — and everybody's coming around to that."
Since his famous firing, Bush has been a go-to when it comes to weighing in on stars caught in scandals. He also weighed in on the Will Smith Oscars slap, saying, "One moment does not define your life, even one as bad as that."
