Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes Mark New Chapter with Seaside Stroll and PDA

Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes are making the most of a new chapter in their lives ... spending some downtime hand-in-hand ahead of their podcast launch, and the shocking news their exes are dating.

We got these shots of the former 'GMA' anchors strollin' around Santa Monica and heading toward the famous pier on Friday. The couple held hands the whole time during their casual excursion ... which came a few days before the very revealing first episode of their podcast.

As we reported, Amy detailed the day she feared T.J. had killed himself as they were getting the boot from their ABC jobs over their secret romance.

She recalled racing over to his pad after he began sending her alarming texts -- all written in the past tense -- and finding him in an unconscious state ... after he'd pounded vodka and weed edibles.

They were clearly putting all that drama in their rearview as they enjoyed a sunny SoCal day.

What's interesting, though, is whether or not they knew, at that point, their respective exes were hooking up.

Marilee Fiebig and Andrew Shue are reportedly dating, and have been for about 6 months. They reportedly sought solace in each other over their divorces from the TV hosts.

Sooo ... happy endings all around? It certainly seems that way for T.J. and Amy, who were also all over each other last weekend as they attended a Jingle Ball event.