Don Lemon And T.J. Holmes Have Been Friends Since Their Time Together On CNN

You could be forgiven for thinking Don Lemon and T.J. Holmes are merely surface level work friends who occasionally exchange pleasantries when they see each other at work-related events. After all, both are hugely successful news anchors with the résumés to prove it

Of course, Lemon has famously appeared on big NBC shows like "Today" and "NBC Nightly News," while Holmes is probably most famous for his work with ABC. The latter has often appeared on "Good Morning America," including becoming a co-anchor on "GMA3: What You Need to Know" in 2020. That's where he grew close to his co-star Amy Robach and, well, you know what happened to Holmes and Robach's time with ABC after that. (Hint: It ended.)

It was actually amid that notorious media firestorm involving Robach, though, that Lemon spoke out about his relationship with Holmes, revealing just how far back they went as he defended Holmes amid the couple's headline grabbing tryst.

Don Lemon proved he had his old friend T.J. Holmes' back when his and Amy Robach's romance hit the headlines, explaining to Entertainment Tonight in December 2022, "I'll say this, I know T.J., I worked with T.J. at CNN, so I have nothing but love for him and I hope that he's okay. I don't know about their situation, I'm not privy enough, but I just like to offer people love and support and I hope that they're OK and hope that they continue to prosper."

Lemon joined the CNN team back in 2006, and then famously hosted his own show on the network, "Don Lemon Tonight," from 2014 to 2022. Lemon then moved on to front "CNN This Morning" — a direct competitor to Holmes' "Good Morning America." As for Holmes, he shot to fame as a correspondent for the news network when he joined CNN the same year as Lemon, where the two worked somewhat closely together. He famously co-hosted "Saturday & Sunday Morning," but said goodbye to the network in 2011 when he made the move to BET.

As you already know, Don Lemon and T.J. Holmes are not the same person. But apparently, not everybody knows that. Back in November 2011, the two were actually mistaken for one another, so they took it upon themselves to make it known they are, in fact, two very different people. Taking it all in stride, the two made a joke of things during a handoff in CNN's newsroom when Holmes quipped to his co-worker as he finished his segment, "This is the evidence, folks. That we are not the same guy. We're on at the same time." The two laughed as they made the admission, with Lemon even sweetly referring to Holmes as "brother."

The two proved they continued to stay close the following month after Holmes announced his CNN departure. "Cocktails at my house w/my good friend & co-worker @tjholmes & his gorgeous wife. And then there was one," Lemon wrote in a since-deleted tweet, sharing an image of the two together. (Holmes has since split with his wife, Marilee Fiebig, since his romance with Robach was uncovered.) Holmes returned the favor with a tweet of his own, which has also seemingly been removed, writing alongside another snap of the two together, "You all be sure to support the last (black) man standing at CNN."