Sky News presenter and This Morning co-host Eamonn Holmes has revealed that he faces up to 10 weeks off work for a double hip replacement.
However, he's not about to take a temporary absence from our TV screens because he's yet to book a date for the operation and has been putting it off for years.
“I’m having both hips done at the same time but haven’t booked a date," he told the Daily Mirror. "I need to check my schedules.
"I’ve been putting it off for years, but it’s got to the stage where I can’t delay it any longer. It is very painful, and does stop me doing certain things."
He added that being open about the surgery was a “risk”, describing the industry he works in as “ageist”.
“I’m a 55-year-old man and I know how ageist this industry can be. I don’t want people thinking ‘Oh, he’s having a double hip replacement – he’s past it’, and then never being seen on television again. So going public with it is a risk.
“Then again, if I need 10 weeks off, I don’t want there to be viewer speculation that I’ve been off having cosmetic surgery or something. Presenting live, daily TV, it’s not as if people wouldn’t notice."
Eamonn and his wife Ruth Langsford (Ian West/PA)
The Northern Irish host said his wife Ruth Langsford is not looking forward to his recovery period after he eventually goes under the knife.
“I don’t think Ruth is exactly relishing playing nurse. Everything I do annoys her anyway, and she is sensitive to the smallest of things, from the way I eat to the sound I make when I breathe.
“So having me around and hugely incapacitated for 10 weeks is bound to drive her mad,” he said.
