This Morning's Martin Frizzell says Schofield scandal 'helped' amid Fiona's Alzheimer's

Daily Mirror

3 days ago

TV presenter Fiona Phillips was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's back in 2022 and the pair recently opened up about dealing with the disease in their candid new book
This Morning boss Martin Frizell has said that the Phillip Schofield drama "helped" him while dealing with Fiona Phillips' Alzheimer's diagnosis. He recently said that the drama at work gave him something else to focus on while things were all go at home.
‌
Fiona was 61-years-old when she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's in 2022. Since then, husband Martin has been by her side caring for her.
‌
Martin talked about how he has coped in his wife's new memoir, Remember When: My Life With Alzheimer's, which Martin co-wrote along with journalist friend Alison Phillips. It comes after John Torode's wife Lisa Faulkner breaks her silence after his MasterChef sacking.
‌
During the diagnosis, Martin was also dealing with some drama while working at This Morning. However, he said that this managed to take "his mind off Fiona at home". In 2023, This Morning's Phillip resigned after more than 20 years on the programme after having an affair with a younger colleague.
Co-host Holly Willoughby then resigned later after being informed by police of a plot to kill her. Martin has said that due to being busy at work, it gave him some "structure and normality".
Speaking in the book, Martin wrote: "I was busy with work at that time. We'd had big changes at This Morning with Phillip Schofield leaving, Holly Willoughby stepping down after the pressures of a serious kidnap threat, and Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard becoming the new hosts in March 2024.
‌
"It meant there was a lot to sort out to make the show the best it possibly could be, but being that busy actually helped me. I loved going into work – not because it was an escape from what was going on at home, but because it gave me structure and normality.
"And it meant that I didn't have time to think about what was to come for Fiona. For both of us." While this was going on, Martin shared that Fiona's "long-term memory was functioning better than the short-term" but she found it difficult to leave the house due to becoming more anxious.
Martin quit This Morning a year after the This Morning scandal after first joining in 2014 as editor of Loose Women before taking over at This Morning.
‌
In a statement last November, he said: "Next year I'm expecting my family priorities to change so I need to free up time for them. I love my team at ITV and will miss them and the thrill of live telly but it's an always on, 24 hours a day, seven days a week commitment and I won't be able to do both.
It's been a privilege to lead truly great presenters and producers, between us we've turned out more than six thousand hours of live topical telly, that's around 20,000 items and the gongs are always nice."
Martin discusses in the book at Fiona is now unable to "brush her teeth, shower and use her phone" without his help. He said that his wife "wouldn't know how to turn the kettle on now" and now "sits and stares for most of the day".