AS CLOSE IN REAL LIFE AS ON SCREEN EAMONN HOLMES AND ISABEL WEBSTER THE 'T.V. HUSBAND AND WIFE' ON WHY THEIR BOND IS STRONGER THAN EVER

Famously outspoken presenter Eamonn Holmes is having one of his playful rants. With a mischievous twinkle, he's gleefully listing all the habits that irritate him about his "work wife", fellow TV host Isabel Webster, who's sitting right next to him at HELLO!'s exclusive photoshoot, sporting the kind of exasperated expression usually reserved for naughty schoolboys.

- SALLY MORGAN

"At the studio early in the morning, while I'm trying to catch up on the newspapers before we go on air, she comes in and she never shuts up," teases Eamonn, 63, as an unruffled Isabel rolls her eyes.

"She and my wife are incredibly alike," he continues, referring to his former This Morning co-star Ruth Langsford. "They're both creatures of habit, like routine and do things the same way every day - and they both get on my nerves!

"Isabel's the most intelligent person I know, especially about politics, but she knows eff-all about anything else. And she's developed this habit of kicking me on the shins," he complains in mock indignation.

"I do that at least once in every show," confirms Isabel, 40. "I try to rein him in when he goes rogue."

Having both worked at Sky News before becoming an onscreen double act when they fronted Sky's early morning show Sunrise for two and a half years from 2014, the pair are now hurtling towards their two-year anniversary as the hosts of Breakfast with Eamonn and Isabel on GB News.

And as is immediately clear when we catch up with them, the sparring and lively banter that amuse their audience spill over into real life when the cameras stop rolling.

GETTING BACK TOGETHER

The pair were reunited on screen after Eamonn was unceremoniously let go by ITV, having been a key part of the presenting team on This Morning since 2006, and it was Isabel, he reveals, who instigated their comeback.

"I didn't know what to do or where to go," Eamonn says. "Then Isabel called me and said: 'Why don't you come to GB News?' - to which I replied: 'Are you kidding?"

Although he was wary of working on another morning show after his experience with ITV, it was their friendship that convinced him to accept.

"I knew I'd be working with her and we're like family. I can't imagine us ever arguing or not having her in my life," Eamonn says.