The husband of television presenter Fiona Phillips has revealed that they have experienced social isolation following her Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
Phillips, formerly the host of ITV’s GMTV breakfast program, publicly shared her diagnosis in 2023, disclosing that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s the previous year at the age of 61.
In a recent interview with the Daily Telegraph, Martin Frizell, a former editor of ITV’s This Morning, stated, “You become almost invisible.”
He elaborated, “We still have some close friends. But I think people think, oh gosh, Fiona, maybe she doesn’t look the same, or they don’t know what to say, or it brings into sharp focus their own mortality.”
Upon receiving her diagnosis, Phillips recounted experiencing months of brain fog and anxiety, initially attributing these symptoms to menopause.
“It’s something I might have thought I’d get at 80,” Phillips explained. “But I was still only 61 years old.”
Mr. Frizell also shared his dilemma regarding Phillips’s cookbooks and designer clothing, items she no longer utilizes.
“Fiona hasn’t cooked in two years,” he revealed.
“Part of the heartache now is she’s got this dressing room full of the most amazing clothes but this horrible disease means she’s more than happy just wearing the same T-shirt, the same trousers, the same thing – day in, day out.”
Phillips, a mother of two, has since authored a memoir, scheduled for release on Thursday.
Mr. Frizell contributed to the book, initially intending to write “a few paragraphs” but ultimately producing “24,000 words.”
He told the Telegraph, “I started off writing about what a great woman she is and just how horrible it is and dreadfully unlucky that she is the latest in the long line of her family to get it.”
“Then I just got very angry as to what little support there is. As a family, we just kind of get through it and at some point we will need more support, but there’s just nothing really.”
In 2023, Phillips disclosed that the disease had “decimated” her family, with her mother, father, and uncle all receiving diagnoses.
She had previously cared for her parents and produced two documentaries about the disease: “Mum, Dad, Alzheimer’s and Me” in 2009, focusing on her family’s history of dementia, and “My Family and Alzheimer’s” in 2010.
The NHS defines dementia as encompassing “a group of symptoms associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning.”
Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent cause of dementia in the UK, although its precise etiology remains incompletely understood. Currently, there is no cure for the disease, though some treatments can temporarily alleviate symptoms.
According to the Alzheimer’s Society charity, one in three people born in the UK will be diagnosed with dementia.
Speaking to ITV’s This Morning on Friday, Mr. Frizell commented, “Society has decided we’re not going to take it as seriously as we should.”
“The money that’s there for Alzheimer’s research, it’s like buying a Starbucks cup of coffee, basically trying to fight a disease. It’s impossible.”
Phillips presented GMTV from 1993 to 2008. Since then, she has led numerous documentaries and episodes of Panorama and served as a columnist for the Mirror.
Organisers of the festival are inviting people to join a choir for the event in September.
The Huntington & Langham Estate in Hindhead appoints a Musician-in-Residence in a pioneering study.
The ex-Hull, Bradford and Middlesbrough striker says the Hull University degree is a “huge honour”.
The scheme will see information about the person and where they might be provided by their families.
Nicola Wallis, diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at 61, is calling for more awareness.