Loose Women star Ruth Langsford opened up about her beloved dad Dennis's battle with dementia on Tuesday's episode of the show, and recalled a particular moment that she felt very guilty about in the lead-up to his diagnosis. During a panel discussion on whether or not they would get a dementia test, she said: "There was this day I remember, my mum, my dad and I, and we were all, I went down to visit them and we went on this lovely day trip to this beautiful National Trust garden. And so you imagine, we were in Cornwall, and we went along the coast road up towards Devon, and on the way back across the moors, a completely different way."
Loose Women star Ruth Langsford spoke out about her beloved dad Dennis's dementia battle
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Ruth continued: "And my mum said: 'Oh look at that lovely house," and my dad said: 'Yes I thought that on the way up.' And I said: 'No you didn't as we didn't come up this way on the way.' We argued all the way home and my mum was in the back going: 'Now you two.' We argued to the point where when we came home, I got a map and showed him the route, and said: 'Are you going mad?' And of course he was in a way, and I feel very guilty."
Ruth with her husband Eamonn Holmes
Fellow panellist Coleen Nolan – who also shared her own family's experience with dementia, was quick to reassure Ruth, telling her: "No you can't." The This Morning host also revealed she wouldn't want to know if she had dementia or not, while Saira Khan thought that she would like to know, to avoid feeling the guilt that Ruth did prior to her father's diagnosis.
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The 58-year-old's dad Dennis passed away in 2012, after living with Alzheimer's for 13 years. "It's quite frightening, there is also a sense of relief when you're given that diagnosis," she said during a recent conversation on This Morning. "I hope that doesn't sound strange but when you know something is wrong and you've been looking into it and wondering and wondering 'why are they behaving like this?'... when we got that diagnosis as a family, there was an element of relief, [of] 'oh, that's why.' Then we understood it."
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