Eamonn Holmes has told how he felt “very emotional” after receiving a poignant painting of him with his late mum, Josie, by London-based artist Annis Booker.
Eamonn, who first shared the picture on his Instagram page last month, said: “I felt very emotional when I received the picture. It’s quite overwhelming to see my mum two years after she passed. It’s a beautiful picture which I will treasure.”
His mum, Josie, passed away aged 93 back in 2022.
Unfortunately, the Belfast born TV presenter was unable to attend the funeral due to health reasons.
Artist and psychotherapist Annis Booker, who is originally from Durham but is now based in London, said it was a “pleasure” to present Eamonn with the painting.
She said: “It was a true pleasure to paint Eamonn for a picture that features his late mother.”
Hundreds of Eamonn’s fans left comments after he posted the image on Instagram.
One wrote: “Wow, what a touching and sentimental piece to treasure. I’m sure your lovely mum would have loved this very much. I hope you find a special place to put it at home.”
Another said: “There’s no love like a mother’s – especially an ‘Irish Mammy’. While one fan touchingly said: “That’s so lovely. Your mum always has your back.”
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When his mother passed away, Eamonn said that she was “at last reunited with daddy now. That is our only consolation.”
“We loved and will miss her so much,” added the broadcaster.
“Every time I visited her, she came to the door to bless me with holy water and wave goodbye.
“Now sadly it really is Goodbye Mummy x.”
Writing in Best magazine back in 2019, Eamonn said his late father Leonard called his mum “The Queen” and she was such a role model.
He said: “Their roles were clearly defined. He earned the money, and she ran the household. And what a job she did!
“She set a bar almost impossibly high for any of us boys to judge our future wives against. Money was scarce, but standards were plentiful.
“I lived in a house that was like a hotel. It was always clean, tidy; the beds were always made and there were three freshly cooked meals a day.
“How did she do all that? Well, although she was incredibly loving and tender, she ruled with an iron fist and a rapier-like tongue – with five boys she had to!
“Defy her at your peril. As she is prone to say to me: ‘You might be on TV, but it won’t stop me from giving you a slap across the back of your head!'”
The 62-year-old added that his mother had also battled loneliness since the death of his father some 30 years ago.