The relationship between Good Morning America co-hosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes was no secret to their colleagues.
A TV insider tells PEOPLE that even though news of their romance broke this week, the pair's relationship was "widely known" among many GMA staffers — so much so that they were told to "knock off" their flirty behavior a while ago.
"There were so many people internally that were unhappy about it," the insider shares of the romance between Robach, 49, and Holmes, 45. "They were flirtatious."
The co-hosts' relationship was made public on Wednesday after photos surfaced of them holding hands in a car, enjoying a vacation in upstate New York and cozying up at a bar in New York City. Hours later, both journalists shut down their Instagram accounts.
A second source previously told PEOPLE that Holmes and Robach's relationship was "the worst kept secret [at] ABC News."
"They had no shame going out together and have been publicly doing this for much longer than a month," the source said. "Staffers are very surprised it took this long to come out. Everyone was turning a blind eye because they didn't want the controversy surrounding the show."
However, another source refuted that claim, telling that there was no overlap between the GMA 3 co-anchors' romance and their respective marriages. (Robach is married to actor Andrew Shue while Holmes is married to attorney Marilee Fiebig. Both couples were married in 2010.)
"This was two consenting adults who were each separated. They both broke up with their spouses in August within weeks of each other," the source said of Robach and Holmes. "The relationship didn't start until after that."
Speaking to on Thursday evening, the source adds: "Everyone knew they were really good friends and joked how good their chemistry was, but they shut it down and made it clear they were each going through their own stuff and there was nothing between them ... their lives were intertwined because of work and they were best friends, so when their marriages ended, he was there for her and it was a very natural transition."
"Stuff with her and Andrew was difficult starting early summer this year, and they had issues before," the source says, noting that Robach was waiting to announce the divorce news until it was settled.
Holmes joined the GMA team in 2014 and immediately struck up a close connection with Robach. She previously told PEOPLE about their friendship. "[They] said, 'Hey, we want to bring on a co-anchor. What do you think of T.J. Holmes?' And I almost fell out of my chair," she said.
"My God. You couldn't have picked a better person to ask me what I thought of, because we've been trying to figure out a way to work together for literally the last five years."
Robach also told about their double dates with Shue and Fiebig. "The moment he started at ABC, I think we just clicked. We've gone on tons of double dates with our spouses and my daughters babysit his daughters."
