Amy Robach, the esteemed broadcaster, recently shared her tumultuous journey in the past year, describing it as the most challenging period of her life. The 50-year-old journalist opened up during the debut episode of the Amy and T.J. Podcast on iHeartRadio, discussing the profound impact of media scrutiny on her life. In a candid exchange with her co-anchor, T.J. Holmes, Robach compared the difficulties she faced in 2023 to the hurdles of 2013, the year she was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer. Intriguingly, she revealed that the recent year had been even more arduous than her battle with cancer.
As per HuffPost reports, recalling her experience during cancer treatment, Robach emphasized, “I used to always say that 2013 was the worst year of my life, the hardest year of my life. It’s interesting; you go through cancer, [and] yes, you’re afraid that you’re going to die, but you’re fighting to live. And you’ve got all these people around you supporting you, cheering you on, and saying, ‘You’ve got this,’” In contrast, the scrutiny and negative attention she faced in 2023 left her feeling profoundly distressed. Expressing, “But this year, I wanted to die; there were days where I wanted to die. Something I had never experienced before in my life. I just didn’t want to get up. I didn’t want to see what new headline was going to be out there,” she said. The media frenzy surrounding her off-camera relationship with Holmes led to a hiatus imposed by ABC News President Kim Godwin in December 2022. Robach reflected on the impact, describing it as a “brutal reminder” of the careers they lost due to the public revelation of their relationship.
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People magazine reports that Robach expressed her hope: “I think it’s another reminder we did this for a living. We interviewed people who were at their worst moments or had had the most unimaginable things happen to them; you can’t imagine what it feels like until the tables are turned—and we experienced it.” Robach said she wishes that she and Holmes’ “year of hell” will make them “more compassionate and empathetic for anyone who’s been in whatever situation you find yourself in, whether you’re the cause of it or it happens to you. Whatever it is, we’re all human beings here.” She insinuated feeling blessed to have had the support of Holmes during this tense period. The couple launched the Amy and T.J. Podcast about a year after their romance became public. They shared their experiences, addressing misconceptions and highlighting the fact that they were in the process of divorcing their respective spouses when the news broke.
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Holmes clarified, “To be clear, we were outed as being in a relationship, but everyone else thought we were being outed as adulterers—being outed as cheating on our spouses—and it wasn’t the case because the odd thing is, the day those pictures were taken and the day that article was released, we both at that point were in divorce proceedings.”
Robach detailed that her husband, actor Andrew Shue, had moved out three months before the photos were taken, and she had removed her wedding ring in August. Holmes had been living alone in an apartment since the summer of 2022. In sharing their personal journey on the podcast, Robach and Holmes aim to provide transparency, challenge misconceptions, and offer a humanizing perspective on the complexities of life in the public eye.