Eamonn Holmes has said that people have been mocking him on social media for using a mobility scooter.
The Northern Irish presenter, 63, lost “full mobility” after he underwent spinal surgery last year following chronic issues with back pain.
GB News presenter Holmes told Best magazine about his mobility issues and said: “Some people were mocking me on social media…
“‘Oh, look at Eamonn, he’s in a mobility scooter!’. I replied, saying, ‘I would prefer if I wasn’t in it but how else would I have got around?’.
“The alternative is I don’t go anywhere, and I sit in my armchair, work in the office. So, I go out… It’s mentally uplifting to get out.”
Holmes also spoke about how it has made him feel to receive physical help from people and said: “Humble, helpless but grateful. However, it’s truly draining when you have to say, ‘do you mind? Could you…? Thank you, I’m sorry’.
“The good news is the op last year cured me of my back pain… I lost full mobility. I’m doing everything I can to get better. But it’s slow.”
He added: “I now accept life is easier with help from others. Getting around with crutches is exhausting. I wish I could walk further but, for now, I can’t.”
Speaking on what he likes to do to get out of the house, he added: “Some people think I’m fixed but it just looks like that on TV… I like getting out.
“Going to the cinema is a terrible effort but worth it. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning was great.”
Prior to his surgery in 2022, Holmes had undergone a double hip replacement in 2016, which he previously said he had been putting off “for years”.
Holmes is married to Loose Women star Ruth Langsford and the duo presented This Morning’s Friday show until ITV confirmed in November 2020 that the duo would be replaced by Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond.
The full interview with the broadcaster features in the new issue of Best, now on sale.
