Eamonn Holmes to have double hip replacement

Popular TV presenter Eamonn Holmes will be missing from our screens next year when he takes 10 weeks off for a double hip replacement operation.

The northern Irish presenter of ITV's This Morning show has yet to book a date for the op, partly stalled by his fear of being seen as "old" and "past it" in an "ageist" television culture.

Holmes admits he had suffered for almost 20 years from a degenerative hereditary condition, in an interview with the Mirror.

Holmes hopes to return to work as soon as he can and says his wife and co-presenter Ruth Langsford will not be looking forward to his recovery period.

"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.