Fiona Phillips' husband Martin Frizell shared an update on his wife's Alzheimer's diagnosis on Wednesday.
Appearing on Lorraine, the former This Morning Editor shared a new photo of Fiona, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's in early 2022 at the age of 61, at home, and shared an update on the former GMTV presenter's condition.
He said: "She doesn't remember Christmas now, she doesn't remember New Year... I don't want to give the impression she's some sort of basket case. She's very much with us."She is still the world's most stubborn woman and still around the house. There's a nice picture of her eating some chocolate; she'll probably hate it because she thinks her hair colour should be a bit better. So nothing changes in that respect."
Martin, who was on the programme discussing the update of Fiona's book, Remember When, also talked about the impact on Fiona's condition on the entire family. "It's wretched. I use the word wretched because I think it's applicable to what we're going through, not just for her, but family and the people around her as well," he said.
He also revealed the things that make Fiona feel safe, including music from her teenage years, such as the Stylistics, Sting, and Rod Stewart. "When she was in Hollywood as a showbiz reporter, she interviewed Rod, quite a few times; they got to know each other, he would call her 'Dorris', and I think she's a contender for Marvin and Rochelle's (Humes) hitlist," because of her musical knowledge."I used to say it's not me that needs to be asked if I'm ok, it's not me that has the diagnosis. I've gone back to broadcasting, doing stuff ourselves and podcasting," he said.
© WireImage"I can free myself up for eight days in April to go on tour - I haven't been away from home for more than three days in two years. I feel guilty being here and not with her," he said, as he confessed he finds it hard being away from her.
Heartbreakingly, he added: "She's still there day by day, but we can see her slipping away. And to sit there and see someone who was the most dynamic, bubbly, whip-smart kind of woman, who had so much pride in how she dressed and what she did…I think part of her depression now is what she's going through is the loss of dignity."
The impact
Calling out the ministers who are responsible for overseeing Alzheimer's care in the UK, Wes Streeting, Stephen Kinnock, Martin said that nobody has spoken about the condition since the release of Fiona's hardback last year. Revealing the heartbreaking details of day-to-day life, Martin continued: "There's no way I could drive, or we could take public transport as Fiona now rarely understands where she is going or why, constantly asking what is happening, probably four or five times a minute on loop for the entire journey."Honestly, I got close to telling the taxi driver to turn around and take us home - Fiona's only safe place - as the stress was unbearable. But of course, that self-pity pales into insignificance compared to what Fiona was going through."
