Just one day after the debut episode of Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes’ podcast, Amy & T.J., which premiered one year to the day they were axed from Good Morning America, Page Six reported that their exes, Andrew Shue and Marilee Fiebig are now dating each other.
According to Page Six, the relationship between Andrew and Marilee began about six months ago after the pair grew close, bonding over the shared trauma of what they allege was infidelity, something Amy and T.J. denied on their podcast.
“To be clear, we were outed as being in a relationship, but everyone else thought we were being outed as adulterers — being outed as cheating on our spouses — and it wasn’t the case,” T.J. said, adding that at the point he and Amy got together, both were in divorce proceedings.
Amy said that at the time photos suggesting they may be intimately involved surfaced, she had already been estranged from Andrew for three months, despite neither Amy or T.J. going on record to confirm their respective separations.
“We shouldn’t have allowed — and I can say that in hindsight — for folks to find out about our relationship before they found out about our divorces," T.J. said. Duh.
Amy and T.J. say they had a draft statement prepared that was never released, saying they thought they had more time to strategize about how to go public with their romance.
“We thought we were protecting our children and our families. And we thought we had time and we thought we had a right to privacy and maybe that was foolish and silly?” Amy said.
Despite the very rational explanations Amy and T.J. attempted to provide for everything from the timeline of their relationship to why they hadn’t come forward with their romance to their higher ups and families, it’s obvious that they either think we’re naïve, or that they’re above the invisible laws of being public figures – morning show public figures at that.
The thing about morning shows is that the anchors are bubbly and wholesome and can do no wrong. They are the introduction to your day, so the idea of hot, steamy sexcapades and rumours of adultery tends to carry extra weight. Lainey wrote more about the media angle of all of this in this article. But enough about Amy and T.J., because the real tea is really that Andrew and Marilee are dating.
The timing of this news coming out is a huge middle finger to Amy and T.J. and their eponymous podcast. Because Amy and T.J. probably thought this was going to be their huge moment to come out and set the record straight and get back in the good graces of their former audience members, followers and supporters. But the news of whatever lame and rehearsed script they had has been completely hijacked by this revelation.
The fact that Andrew and Marilee have reportedly been dating for an entire six months and we’re only finding out about this now says a few things – first, they’re a hell of a lot better at keeping things under wraps than Amy and T.J. were, and second, they are moving on. Together.
The common misconception in situations like this, where there’s essentially a partner swap, which is really an oversimplification, is that it’s done out of spite. But relationships that blossom under these circumstances can often make absolute sense. These are two people that have involuntarily had a very public and traumatic experience and at some point, chose to navigate the path forward together.
The mental space you’re in coming out of a divorce, let alone one that’s been clouded by a tabloid-frenzy spectacle like this, means they were in a very similar headspace and could relate to each other. And whatever comfort they were able to offer each other became the foundation for what has turned into a romantic relationship.
Shania Twain, who experienced something similar, has opened up about this in the past. Earlier this year, she was a guest on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, where she spoke about feeling “uncontrollably fragile” after her husband, Mutt Lange, had an affair with a close friend of hers named Marie-Anne Thiebaud.
After her split from Mutt, she began dating and ended up marrying Marie-Anne’s ex-husband. During the podcast, she said she isn’t ashamed or embarrassed about this, which she referred to as a game of “musical chairs”.
“I guess it was a beautiful surprise to then see how gracefully and graciously he was dealing with navigating the same pain,” she said. “I think everyone gets what they deserve. I got what I deserve, I got the greatest man on the planet. That’s how I see it.”
“[We] lost the jobs we love because we love each other,” T.J. said during the podcast.
No, you lost the jobs you love because you didn’t follow due process and created an absolute sh-t storm for your network. You came across as unethical and dishonest. You can’t possibly expect your network to move forward with both of you on air with that kind of elephant in the room.
To Shania’s point, I think these romances, this romance between Andrew and Marilee, has great potential. And she’s right about everyone getting what they deserve in the end. T.J. and Amy seem happy, and after all they’ve been through, I can only hope the same for Andrew and Marilee.
