Fiona Phillips knew 'clock was ticking' for Alzheimer's after parents' tragic death
Fiona Phillips, who is best known for hosting ITV's GMTV breakfast programme, announced that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2022.
After suffering from brain fog and a sense of anxiety, the 64-year-old initially put her symptoms down to the menopause before receiving her diagnosis.
However, the former presenter was aware that it was highly possible that she too could get the disease after both of her parents suffered from it.
Her mother, Amy, developed the early onset of the condition at the age of 53. Sadly, in 2006, she died at the age of 74.
Tragically, Fiona's father Phil died six years later at the age of 76 after he was diagnosed with the condition in his early 60s.
During Tuesday's instalment of Lorraine, her close friend Alison Phillips detailed the heartbreaking response Fiona had after her parents died.
She commented: "It's so sad, I remember seeing shortly after her father had died of Alzheimer's. Her mother had died of Alzheimer's first.
"She said to me that day, 'The clock is ticking'. She thought there was an inevitability of her getting it. So, she's had that whole period of her life waiting for this.
"Then, it did indeed happen. The very worst of things that could happen did happen. It's horribly unfair."
In an update, Alison shared that Fiona, who was once so confident, no longer ventures outside much.
She commented: "She (Fiona) travelled all over the world, lived in LA. But, her life with Alzheimer's has sort of shrunk, so that now she doesn't really like going out. That's what is so cruel about the whole thing.
In the past, Fiona has spoken about the disease in her family as she told The Mirror 18 months after being diagnosed: "I just felt more angry than anything else because this disease has already impacted my life in so many ways.
"My poor mum was crippled with it, then my dad, my grandparents, my uncle."
Over the past year, Fiona has been writing her memoir to help others going through the same ordeal feel less alone with the help of Ashley.
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