Holmes started his television career at
KSNF Channel 16 in
Joplin,
Missouri. After he drove to Joplin from the
University of Arkansas campus to hand-deliver his resume and reel, he was hired on the spot. Holmes worked for less than a year at KSNF serving as a producer, assignment reporter, and weekend anchor. Holmes moved back to his home state of
Arkansas in 2000 to join CBS affiliate
KTHV in
Little Rock as a general assignment reporter. Within a year, he was promoted to weekend anchor. In 2003, Holmes moved to
KNTV, the
NBC O&O station in the
San Francisco Bay Area, to become anchor of the 5 p.m. evening news. While at KNTV, he traveled to
Athens,
Greece to cover the
2004 Olympics, the first Summer Games held after the
September 11th attacks. He also covered numerous other stories that garnered national attention. These included the historic recall election of California Gov.
Gray Davis that resulted in the election of Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger; and, the double murder trial of
Scott Peterson.
CNN Holmes joined
CNN as a news anchor and correspondent in October 2006. He co-anchored CNN
Saturday & Sunday Morning with
Betty Nguyen until March 2010 when Nguyen left for
CBS. Holmes then anchored the newscast solo. At CNN, Holmes reported from the scene of numerous breaking news events, including
Joplin, MO, which was devastated by multiple tornadoes in May 2011;
New Orleans during the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010; and, Blacksburg, VA immediately after the shootings on the campus of
Virginia Tech. Holmes also anchored from
Ground Zero on the 10th anniversary of the
September 11th attacks. Holmes covered the historic first papal visit to the
United States of
Pope Benedict XVI in 2008, including anchoring live from the mass at Yankee Stadium. Holmes secured some of the first stories from the survivors of the
US Airways Flight 1549 that crash landed in the
Hudson River in January 2009. Holmes also reported from the campus of the
University of Mississippi during the first presidential debate between Sens.
John McCain and
Barack Obama. Holmes anchored significant news stories, including
Saddam Hussein's execution in 2006, the terrorist attacks in
Mumbai, India in 2008, and the terrorist attacks at the
Glasgow Airport in 2007. Holmes contributed to CNN's 2010 coverage of the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill and 2008 coverage of the presidential primary campaigns, both of which garnered Peabody Awards. Holmes' last day on CNN was Christmas Day 2011.
BET In December 2011, Holmes and
BET announced he had signed a multi-platform deal with
BET Networks. In a statement,
BET announced: "The deal with Holmes includes a new show on
BET, as well as content on BET.com in which he can bring his many talents to what the company regards as "the most important and interesting stories" for the
BET audience. Z"We are simply ecstatic to have T.J. Holmes coming to our fold. He's been an outstanding news anchor and we look forward to working with him in a variety of new ways on
BET," said Stephen G. Hill, President of Music Programming and Specials at
BET Networks. "It's now upon us to develop vehicles that capture his intelligence, curiosity about the world, warmth, humor and compassion. It's a challenge that we are happy to have." In August 2012,
BET Networks announced that Holmes will be the host of their new original series ''Don't Sleep'', which will premiere October 1, 2012 from 11 p.m.-11:30 p.m. ET /PT. Airing Monday through Thursday, Holmes will deliver smart, biting social commentary on significant issues important to the black community.
MSNBC Since December 29, 2012, Holmes has appeared on
MSNBC on several occasions as a substitute anchor. He has appeared on
Weekends with Alex Witt and
NewsNation with Tamron Hall.
Return to CNN Starting on June 24, 2013, Holmes made a brief return to the Turner family of networks when he anchored coverage of the
George Zimmerman trial.
ABC News T. J. Holmes joined the ABC News Team on September 26, 2014, on a freelance/temporary basis, substituting on the overnight news program
World News Now and
America This Morning, and filing reports for
Good Morning America when news broke overnight, such that as it did on the day of his hiring. His career milestone was announced the next day by the
GMA Weekend hosts. Like other WNN anchors, Holmes substituted on GMA as needed. On December 23, 2014, he was made the permanent co-anchor of
World News Now. On September 21, 2020, Holmes joined
GMA3: What You Need to Know as co-anchor.
Amy Robach relationship and firing from ABC News On December 5, 2022, Holmes and his
GMA3 co-host
Amy Robach were taken off the air following the public disclosure of a romantic relationship between the two. It would later be alleged that Holmes also had an affair with a junior female staffer at ABC. On January 27, 2023, both Holmes and Robach were fired from ABC News as a result of their relationship. On December 5, 2023, they launched a podcast,
Amy & T.J., on
iHeartRadio. ==Personal life==