despite saying he had never met her in person. In April 2020, Holmes appeared to perpetuate the conspiracy theory that the building of 5G masts had led to the coronavirus pandemic. In a feature on This Morning surrounding "Fake News" related to the virus Holmes said that he "didn't accept mainstream media immediately slapping it down". He suggested that it was a sign of an "enquiring mind" to investigate the theory which had already been much debunked by experts. However, Holmes said that "it suits the state narrative" to deny the theory. Ofcom announced that it was investigating the incident. Holmes read a statement on the following day's programme which stated: "There is no connection between the present national health emergency and 5G, and to suggest otherwise would be wrong and indeed it could be dangerous." Ofcom received more than 400 complaints about the incident and later issued guidance to ITV on its coverage of the pandemic. Ofcom commented: "In our view, Eamonn Holmes' ambiguous comments were ill-judged and risked undermining viewers' trust in advice from public authorities and scientific evidence." Personal life In 1985, Holmes married his first wife, Gabrielle Holmes, with whom he has three children, Declan, Rebecca and Niall. They separated in 1994, due to Holmes' father's death and journalism career taking a toll on their marriage. On 26 June 2010, Holmes married Ruth Langsford at Elvetham Hall, near Hartley Wintney, Hampshire. The couple sold exclusive rights to report on the wedding ceremony and the reception to Hello! magazine in a deal that saw the publication feature the event over two issues, in July 2010. In 2006, Holmes was awarded an honorary degree by Queen's University Belfast. He has also received an honorary degree from the University of Staffordshire. Holmes is a supporter of Manchester United. In December 2005, he opened the eulogies at the funeral of Northern Irish footballer George Best. Holmes and Langsford are patrons of Dogs Trust. and the couple adopted their dog, Maggie from the charity in 2011. In 2014, the couple supported the Dementia Friends campaign, which is an Alzheimer's Society initiative. In April 2015, Holmes became a celebrity ambassador for the children's charity, Variety GB. In January 2016, he became a patron of Northern Ireland Kidney Patients' Association. In March 2020, he and Langsford became patrons of The Amy May Trust. In 2018 the Twitter accounts of both Holmes and Louis