ABC star’s bid to discover if CBS News anchor husband took lovers backfires spectacularly: Years of intimate texts uncovered after war over grapes in $4m mansion’s fridge

A popular TV anchor has been dealt a series of blows by a judge overseeing her bitter divorce battle from her former CBS News host husband.

Liz Cho, who hosts ABC’s Eyewitness News for WABC-TV in New York City, had originally asked estranged husband Josh Elliott, 55, to hand over any text messages he exchanged with extramarital ‘sexual’ partners.

Elliott agreed to do so in March of this year – and subsequently hit back by demanding Cho, also 55, hand over any such communications she may have shared with lovers.

Cho initially resisted the request. But at a recent hearing whose ruling was obtained by the Daily Mail, the journalist revealed she has now agreed to supply any such communications. 

Cho was also ordered to hand over six years worth of cell phone communications to Elliott and his lawyers, which could reveal intimate new details of her life to her husband.

There is no suggestion that either Cho or Elliott were unfaithful to one another. 

It is unclear why Elliott made a specific request for six years of Cho’s phone records. 

The pair, who married in Montecito, California, in July 2015, lived in a stunning $4million Connecticut mansion.

In April, the Daily Mail revealed how they had been warring over grapes in its fridge and the alleged neglect of their Portuguese water dogs. 

Cho faced more setbacks in rulings issued by Judge Steven Dembo during the July 24 remote hearing.

She and Elliott previously argued over an October 2025 transfer of $500,000 from their joint bank account to that of her teenage daughter from a previous marriage. Each have daughters from previous relationships.

Elliott objected, while Cho defended the transaction. But Judge Dembo has now ruled that she must provide further details about it.

Cho also previously argued that she should not have to comply with Elliott’s request to hand over any prospective communications she or someone speaking on her behalf made with journalists about the messy split.   

Judge Dembo has now said she must do just that, though, in a move that could potentially hand her ex further ammunition. 

There is no suggestion that Cho or Elliott spoke to journalists about their divorce. 

Indeed, the pair have ignored multiple requests for comment about it from the Daily Mail and continue to do so. 

Cho was hit with one final legal defeat by Judge Dembo, after he ruled that she should hand over any receipts for payments made in relation to her previous marriage over the past 11 years.  

No further details have been shared about what such payments could be, or what potential relevance they could have to the couple’s divorce, now nearing its eleventh hour.

Cho did score some victories during the hearing, with Judge Dembo saying she did not have to comply with Elliott’s request for a huge tranche of documentation her legal team plans to show at the couple’s upcoming divorce trial. 

He also agreed with her assertion that there was no point in Elliott demanding Cho share examples of any time she had signed over power of attorney to her estranged husband, since the requests were needless in the first place.

Judge Dembo explained how each spouse could have simply sought such records ‘from the appropriate institution.’ 

‘If the parties are not able to obtain them, the court may revisit this request,’ the jurist wrote. He also pushed the pair’s trial date back to October. 

Power of attorneys can give spouses the legal authority to manage each other’s bank accounts, and in Connecticut, they are required to be signed in the presence of two witnesses, though the presence of a notary public or court official is also advised. 

Documents also show the important hearing was shifted to being held remotely at the last minute, court records show.

Both parties have until the end of the week to comply with Judge Dembo’s latest order.  

The Daily Mail previously reported on how the media power couple’s split had become so contentious that the two were squabbling over assets as small as grapes in the fridge of their mansion back in January. 

The family had been ‘jointly’ residing at their $4.2million residence until January of this year, when a Cold War-style conflict saw Elliott move out. 

Motions filed by both in late 2025 and earlier in 2026 offered a glimpse at the ugly nature of the proceedings.   

Elliott accused Cho of allegedly ‘monitoring and listening to [his] private phone calls [and] rifling through [his] personal belongings and closet’ on January 30, for instance.

Elliott also accused her of ‘locking doors and shutting off lights on [his] daughter in the evening when it was 14 degrees outside’ and leaving ‘for extended periods without communication despite the presence of two dogs requiring daily care.’

Elliott’s attorneys wrote in March that he moved out to ‘de-escalate a hostile environment marked by baseless accusations, surveillance of private communications and conduct directed at his teenage child.’ 

Cho claimed ‘[Elliott] stole her jewelry’ while relocating. His attorney hit back that Cho was told to contact the police if a crime occurred while accusing her of knowingly making a false allegation for ‘litigation theatrics.’ 

Cho pushed back by filing motions demanding Elliott hand over years of personal and financial records. 

The couple also had to get a request approved by a judge just to decide on how the living situation at six-bedroom home would be handled during the holidays. 

An agreement was eventually reached where Cho and her daughter had the home on December 23, 24, and 25, according to legal filings. However, the duo had to be out by 11am on Christmas – to make way for Elliott and his daughter. 

The two were allowed to stay in the home until December 30, according to the document. The arrangement was so strict that both were barred from entering the bedrooms of not only their spouses, but their stepdaughters as well.

Elliott filed to dissolve the marriage weeks before they were set to ring in their 10th anniversary, writing in June 2025 the union had ‘broken down irretrievably.’ No other details were provided.  

Cho was previously married to real estate mogul Evan Gottlieb. The pair split after four years in 2012 and had a 19-year-old daughter together – the same one Elliott’s attorneys said was sent the $500,000 in October.

Cho and Elliott met while working at ABC in the early 2010s. At the time, Elliott was an anchor for Good Morning America, where Cho was a fill-in host. Elliott’s decorated TV career ended with his CBS firing in 2017. 

He was ousted after just a year due to an on-air incident when he told viewers he was set to leave his CBS News hosting gig for a larger role at the network, without the approval of the network. 

Cho has been with the ABC family since 2003. She is one of the station’s biggest stars.