Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes Finally Break Silence on 'GMA' Firing After Romance

T. J. Holmes and Amy Robach

Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes are finally ready to tell their story.

The former GMA3: What You Need to Know co-anchors launched their brand new iHeartRadio podcast, Amy and T.J. this week, and they decided to come right out of the gate and speak candidly about their relationship and their exit from the ABC series.

Robach, 50, introduced their debut podcast episode as "the first time we get to say what happened and where we are today." She also acknowledged that she and Holmes, 46, have been through "one hell of a year" since they were initially told not to return to their normal duties on the daytime news program in December 2022.

"I guess the best way to sum us up, Amy and T.J., is that we're the folks who lost the jobs we love because we love each other," Holmes said, cutting to the chase during the episode on Tuesday, Dec. 5. "And that is the bottom line."

The couple went on to share their side of the story, as Robach recalled, "We each got a phone call from our bosses saying that they had made the decision—and they made it again a point to say we hadn’t violated any company policy —but because we had become a distraction that they thought it would be best if they temporarily took us off the air to let things quiet down."

"And I remember I said, 'Now this is going to be a story if you take us off the air, please don’t do this,'" she added, to which Holmes chimed in, "That was the morning we knew we would not be going back to that network."

"We knew that phone call sealed it, because you can’t come back from that," he said.

The duo went on to explain that they had planned to finalize their respective divorces and then tell ABC management about their romantic relationship, but the press ultimately beat them to the punch.

“We thought in January, we’re going to go and walk in and explain to management that we are a couple," Robach stated. "Right before the pictures came out, we thought, 'Should we tell them what’s going on?' And we thought, 'Let’s just get these divorces cleaned up and then let’s do it.' But we had every intention of doing it and we didn’t believe, and I don’t think we still do believe, we were doing anything technically wrong."

Even though Robach and Holmes had to endure what was called a "year of hell," in the aftermath of their relationship becoming public, the pair is insistent that they are in a great place together now.

"Relationships are hard, they're messy, they're not perfect. But we have fought for love, and I can say I have never been happier," Robach gushed during the episode, adding, "I am with my best friend."

Listen to their entire conversation on the first episode of the Amy and T.J. podcast, streaming now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Music, Spotify and all major podcast platforms.

Next: Michael Strahan's Recent Absence from 'GMA' Explained Following Former Lengthy Hiatus