GMA3 hosts TJ Holmes and Amy Robach’s workplace romance shouldn’t knock them off the air

Let’s get this straight: GMA3 hosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes sure look like cheaters. And I’m glad I’m not married to either one of them.

But should they be punished for having an affair? I can’t co-sign on that.

After almost a week of incessant internet chatter surrounding the hosts of ABC’s mid-day news hour GMA3: What You Need to Know, Robach and Holmes were suspended from on-air duties on Monday for an undisclosed amount of time. The alleged affair did not violate company policy, said ABC News boss Kim Godwin, the rumors were an “internal and external distraction.”

To say the least.

» READ MORE: Where are Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes? ABC pulls ‘Good Morning America’ hosts off air amid affair rumors.

This story has all the juiciness of a Lifetime movie, a BET reality show, and a daytime soap opera rolled into one. It all started Nov. 30 when The Daily Mail published a series of pictures of Holmes, 45 and Robach, 49, canoodling in bars and outside a cottage in upstate New York. The pictures accompanied a story about the co-hosts’ romance.

Holmes and Robach’s on-air chemistry is undeniable, and when the two trained for — and ran — the New York half marathon in March, folks were already speculating about a possible relationship. But that was just people talking, right? After all, Holmes and Robach went on double dates together with their picture-perfect spouses. Robach is married to Andrew Shue, best known for his role as nice guy Billy Campbell on Melrose Place and Holmes’ wife, Marilee Fiebig is a high-powered immigration attorney. Robach’s teenage daughters babysat Holmes’ kids. Affair? Nah...

Something was going down though because both relationships allegedly ended in August. (There is no record of divorce filings in either case, though some reports say Robach and Shue are close to finalizing theirs.)

This is where the punishment should end. Holmes and Robach are both consenting adults. Neither is underage, and when it comes to power in the workplace, they are equals. Holmes may be a philanderer — several stories broke last week about alleged affairs with other women he worked with. But sleeping around is grounds for divorce, not suspension from work.

ABC is behaving like a disapproving parent who doesn’t like their grown kids’ actions. But if Holmes and Robach aren’t violating company policy, should ABC do anything about it?

We all know that dating in the workplace can be problematic. But the reality is that it happens all the time, especially in stressful round-the-clock professions like hospitality, medicine, and yes, media. It’s no coincidence that MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski has become Mika Brzezinski Scarborough. She married her Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough in 2018.

Sneaking around behind a trusting spouse’s back is a miserable thing to do. I feel for Shue and Fiebig. But the bigwigs at ABC need to step back, let it blow over, and mind their business.

This relationship is really just another day at the office. Holmes and Robach have enough to manage with their co-hosting duties and their crumbling family lives. We don’t need to pile on.