Martin Frizell has shared his wife Fiona Phillips’ biggest uphill battle following her Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2022.
The former ITV presenter, 64, and her husband Martin (ex-editor of ITV’s This Morning) have been candid about what Phillips’ life looks like navigating the early-onset neurodegenerative disease.
An experience account of what the couple has been through over the past three years is recorded in the GMTV star’s new memoir, Remember When: My Life with Alzheimer’s, which includes Frizell’s confession that cancer would have been easier to deal with.
He also explained that they have secretly hired a carer to support Phillips, who is now struggling with daily tasks including dressing, bathing and cooking.
Now, in a new discussion on ITV’s daytime talk show Loose Women, co-panelist Jane Moore asked Frizell how Phillips is right now.
Frizell started positively, saying that the ‘good news’ was that her ‘mood had improved’ and she had a ‘better appetite’ due to a new antidepressant she is on.
It has meant she is in a ‘much better place now than she was a few weeks ago’
However, he continued: ‘Fiona’s main problem with her Alzheimer’s right now is her frustration.
‘She’s someone who has worked from the age of 11, at a paper round. Didn’t stop working till a couple of years ago when the Alzheimer’s made it difficult to do so.
What is early-onset Alzheimer’s disease?
Early-onset Alzheimer’s is also known as young-onset dementia or younger-onset Alzheimer’s. It is the label given to anyone who receives a diagnosis before they turn 65.
According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, an estimated 70,800 people with dementia in the UK have young onset, and Alzheimer’s disease accounts for around one in three cases of young onset dementia.
It is thought at least five in every 100 people with Alzheimer’s are under 65, however the figure may be higher.
According to the NHS, the symptoms of Alzheimer’s can begin with usually minor memory problems, but can develop into:
- confusion, disorientation and getting lost in familiar places
- difficulty planning or making decisions
- problems with speech and language
- problems moving around without assistance or performing self-care tasks
- personality changes, such as becoming aggressive, demanding and suspicious of others
- hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there) and delusions (believing things that are untrue)
- low mood or anxiety
‘She’ll watch telly and she’ll get frustrated that she’s not working. She’ll get anxious or frightened thinking about it.
‘This was a fearless women. She spent decades doing this. Seeing her now in that anxious phase is horrible. The whole of Alzheimer’s is horrible, as such.’
In a recent Instagram post, shown above, he shared a video of Phillips out for a walk holding a magnum ice cream as she thanked people for reading her book.
People shared their well-wishes at the time.
‘Sending Fiona so much love. She really looked out for me in my GMTV days, my telly mum and I will never forget how she comforted me when I was going through a tough time in my relationship,’ Anna Williamson wrote.
‘ending you lots of love, Fiona. You were so kind to me when you came up to my house in Norfolk to do my first interview after I was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2008. More than just a colleague… A truly kind, talented and beautiful person!’ Trisha Goddard echoed.
During an interview with the Telegraph, her husband, 66, also recalled the ‘gut-wrenching’ moment they discovered Phillips’ diagnosis.
He said: ‘We went to [the hospital] to get the results of tests, and the consultant said: “I’m sorry, but I believe it’s Alzheimer’s.” And it’s like, oh. Gulp. Then he said, ‘I’ll go and get you a cup of tea, here’s some reading for you.”
‘He pushed a leaflet across the table and on the front cover was an old couple, with a Zimmer frame, basically saying: “How to live well with Alzheimer’s.” It just doesn’t relate to you.’
Before adding: ‘It shouldn’t be happening to someone as young as Fiona. It was utterly gut-wrenching. Sickening. We just looked at each other. S**t! What are we going to do now?’
The couple have been married for 28 years and share two sons, Nat, 26, and Mackenzie, 23, who underwent genetic testing to confirm that the disease wasn’t hereditary, with the blood tests ‘coming back negative’.
Fiona’s parents both died after being diagnosed from the disease.
In her memoir, Phillips explained how ‘agonisingly difficult’ she is finding life now.
‘Sometimes I get halfway through a sentence and I can’t remember where I was heading with it or the word I was looking for. It feels awful,’ she said, comparing her condition to ‘trying to chase a £5 note that’s fallen out of your purse on a gusty day’.
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