As T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach's affair continues to play out on the public stage, new intel is emerging about the Good Morning America anchors' personal lives. According to what an insider told the Daily Mail, T.J. reportedly had an affair with a much younger intern in 2015, making her feel "uncomfortable" and "used."
The alleged affair took place one year into T.J.'s tenure at ABC.
According to the source, T.J. engaged in a sexual relationship with script coordinator Jasmin Pettaway, who was 24 years old at the time. Supposedly, Jasmin originally looked to him as a mentor, but that's not the dynamic they ended up having.
"He was a predator who took full advantage of his position, and he was reckless," the insider said. "It was Jasmin's first real job in television, and it was a big deal for her. She was looking for a mentor and she reached out to several people. T.J was someone who was responsive, but he absolutely abused the position of trust."
T.J. had been married to Marilee Fiebig for five years at this point.
At first, they went out for drinks together.
Then, the source says that things turned sexual when he called Jasmin into his office only for her to reportedly discover that he was drinking liquor at work.
"I don't know how long that had been going on before it got sexual, but I do know the first time it did was in his office, and he was about to go on air in a couple of hours," the source said. "They had sex and I know she was confused afterwards as to what it meant. That kind of 'Did that just really happen?' feeling. I mean, that's pretty risky behavior on his part."
Things supposedly carried on for several months.
"Jasmin was a beautiful girl and he had it all on his terms. He was interested and then he wasn't," the insider added. "This was a young woman, starting out in a difficult industry, looking for role models and mentors and she got T.J. No one talked about abuse of power back then, but stuff happened."
The insider said that she isn't the only female employee at ABC that T.J. has engaged with like this.
So far, it's still not clear whether or not Amy and T.J. are returning to 'GMA.'
According to what another insider told Page Six this week, there's still been "no decision" about when or if T.J. and Amy will return from their suspension from the morning show.
"There’s been little movement. [ABC management] does not seem to [be] very competent in how they’re handling this," one source said, while multiple others told the outlet that they're both "very likely out" as hosts after the scandal that revealed they'd been having an affair, despite the fact that they are both married to other people.
'GMA' could look rather different in the future.
Given the amount of attention that the affair has given ABC, it wouldn't be surprising at all if the network decided to move on with other permanent hosts to minimize drama.
It's definitely going to be interesting to see how this all continues to unfold.
