Matt Lauer is pinning his comeback hopes on an unlikely alliance with fellow TV news pariahs T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach, sources tell the National Enquirer.
The former Today host, 67, has been an industry outcast since he was fired from the show in 2017 after numerous accusations of brazen sexual harassment, which he has denied.
Meanwhile Holmes, 48, and Robach, 52, had to step down from Good Morning America in 2022 after their scandalous adulterous affair was exposed, leading to the demise of both their marriages.
“Matt’s spent the past several years waiting for some of his former colleagues to come to his rescue and open the door for a comeback. But no one has appeared, so now he’s exploring other options,” an insider says.
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“He’s followed T.J. and Amy’s story closely and has a lot of respect for their tenacity and talent. So he’s putting together a proposal and hoping they can come up with a plan that will benefit them all.”
One proposal he’s floated — cohosting their podcast with them. “He’d even call out some of their mutual enemies on air if that’s what it takes!” the insider says.
“He thinks they’re a class act who’ve been beaten up on and misunderstood, much like he was.”
According to our insider, “he’s arrogant enough to believe he can guide them to the next step of their own journey while using their notoriety and reach to get out there and back in the broadcast game.”
“It would be his pleasure if they could forge a partnership and right some of the wrongs he believes they’ve all suffered.”
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To seal the deal, he’d invite them to his wedding — assuming he gets around to proposing to Shamin Abas, 55, the marketing exec he’s been dating since 2019.
Insiders say he was going to put a ring on it in 2025, though plans have yet to materialize.
As readers know, Lauer’s own marriage blew up after wife Annette Roque, 58, the mother of his three kids, kicked him to the curb when his alleged abusive antics were exposed.