Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes had “press releases ready to go” just hours after their months-long affair was exposed in November 2022 — but ultimately they decided not to post them in hopes it would help them keep their jobs.
During Wednesday’s episode of their “Amy & T.J. Podcast,” a fan asked the couple why they “both didn’t speak out right away” and “go hard at the allegations right from the start” if they are now claiming there was no infidelity.
“What we were trying to do was keep our jobs,” Robach replied, noting that they had each written press releases just hours after the news broke.
Despite being “temporarily taken off the air to let things cool down,” the pair was still “hopeful” for the entire six-week span that they would “be going back to work.”
“Our hearts, our guts, our minds, everything about us wanted to speak out but once we didn’t speak out those initial first few days…at what point do you then? It got really hard.”
However, Robach — who noted that she has “never had to do press on [herself]” — admitted that is may “have been better if we had [released the statements].”
Meanwhile, Holmes actually pulled up a “draft” of his statement, which has been in his email since the “exact day that the pictures were released.”
“This is so wild, I’m reading it. Two different statements we decided not to release a statement together. Instead it would be two separates. She would have hers and I would have mine.”
He then read Robach’s statement first, “My divorce is nearly finalized after we decided to separate. T.J. and I have been friends for years, and our relationship has evolved only in recent weeks. I ask for privacy for my family as we continue to heal.”
Under her statement was his own, which read, “After a month-long separation, I’m in the final stage of my divorce, a process that has been difficult and that my family — for their sake had hoped to keep private. I have leaned on my closest friend during this painful stretch and very recently, that friendship became more. Out of respect for my family, I am requesting privacy at this time.”
Despite both being “ready to go” ahead with the statements, the people around them advised them not to speak out.
Although they believed staying silent would ultimately help them keep their jobs, the lovebirds ultimately parted ways with ABC in late January 2023 — almost two months after photos of them getting handsy outed their romance.
At the time, Robach was still legally married to actor Andrew Shue while Holmes was married to Marilee Fiebig.
However, Robach and Shue had allegedly been separated for months by then.
While Holmes claimed in his statement that he and Fiebig were “in the final stage of [their] divorce” at the time, he did not actually file the paperwork until the end of December.
Yet he did claim during a previous podcast episode that the pair had been living apart since the summer of 2022
Meanwhile, sources told Pvnew at the time that Fiebig was “blindsided” by her then-husband’s alleged affair with his on-air colleague and was still trying to make their marriage work.
All parties have since finalized their respective divorces and — in a shocking turn of events — Fiebig and Shue started dating soon after.
Pvnew broke the news earlier this month that the unlikely duo bonded over their shared traumatic experience and have been dating for about six months.
“It turned into something else, and they’re connected over their values. It’s bigger than the affair now,” one source told us.
“They’re not heartbroken and sad,” said the insider of Shue and Fiebig. “Everyone has moved on.”
