Eamonn Holmes, 60, was comforted by his This Morning co-star and wife Ruth Langsford, 60, as he wiped tears from his eyes after an emotional segment. The TV veteran’s father Leonard suffered a fatal heart attack while driving in the countryside of Northern Ireland at the age of 65.
During the ITV programme today, Eamonn introduced a clip of Patrick Dexter playing the iconic song Danny Boy on the cello.
Ahead of airing the clip, the presenter told viewers: “When you leave Ireland, this is your call back home.”
“Oh don’t,” Ruth replied. “You’re making me well up.”
“It is,” Eamonn insisted. “It’s all about having to leave the country and then at one point, your sweetheart will call you back home.”
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The small-screen star opened up about the loss of his dad in his 2006 autobiography This Is My Life.
Eamonn explained that his mum Josie was never able to get over his dad’s death and he was never able to get over seeing his dad’s body in the mortuary.
Earlier this year, the TV veteran shared a heartfelt message about his late father and revealed he never got the chance to say goodbye.
Taking to Twitter, Eamonn penned: “This is my Dad who died suddenly 29 years ago. I never got to say Goodbye.
“New technology means we can bring someone who has passed away back into our lives via Virtual Reality.”
He added: “If you put on VR Goggles, who would you want to see, to touch, to hear again if you could, and why?”
Eamonn accompanied the post with a black and white photo of his dad standing in front of a van.
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10.30am.