TV presenter Fiona Phillips has made a rare public appearance following her diagnosis with early onset Alzheimer’s.
The 64-year-old appeared in a short Instagram video shared by her husband, former This Morning editor Martin Frizell, to thank fans for reading their new book Remember When.
Looking in good spirits while enjoying an ice cream in a London park, Fiona said: “Hello, thank you for reading my book. It’s really good of you. Hope you like it. OK. Bye.”
The video prompted an outpouring of support from fellow TV stars. Davina McCall commented: “Oh Fiona!!! So great to see your face! We’ve missed you! Me and Michael are sending you huge love!!!”
TV presenter Anna Williamson added: “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.”
Broadcaster Trisha Goddard also shared her love, writing: “Sending 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!”
Fiona was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in 2022, and her condition has since deteriorated.
In Remember When, Martin heartbreakingly recalls how Fiona failed to recognise their eldest son, Nat, 24, during a recent visit home from the Army.
In an extract published in The Mirror, he wrote: “One weekend, Nat was home from the Army and making tea in the kitchen while Fiona and I sat watching television. She became terribly distressed. ‘Who’s that man in the kitchen?’ she asked me. ‘That’s Nat,’ I said gently. ‘Our son. He’s home for the weekend.’”
Martin continued: “She was in such a state that she didn’t even seem upset that she had asked the question.” He said Nat would have been “devastated” to hear his mother was unable to recognise him.
Martin recently returned to This Morning to discuss the book, though Fiona was too unwell to join him. “She’s got bad depression because she wants to work. She’s not well enough today to come and talk to you,” he told hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary.
What started as a few paragraphs to help Fiona stay engaged soon became a 24,000-word book. “It started off when we knew it was Alzheimer’s. It was to give her a purpose, to give her something to do,” Martin said. “This is a bubbly, smart, fearless woman — a very modern woman — and all of a sudden it stops. I just get very angry no one talks about it. We become invisible with Alzheimer’s, no one wants to talk about it.”
He revealed Fiona also suffers from anxiety and a secondary condition that causes her pain, adding to her confusion. Tragically, she recently believed Martin had kidnapped her while they posed for a photo outside their home. “She suffers from delusions,” Martin said. “She still recognises me, even if she doesn’t always know we’re married.”
In a moment of painful honesty, Martin admitted: “I’m not Mother Teresa. I get frustrated, and yes, we have arguments.” He also said: “I wish she got cancer — at least there would have been some hope. It’s not a sexy disease. The pictures aren’t great. On your deathbed, you look bloody awful.”
Fiona, whose parents both had Alzheimer’s, left GMTV in 2008 to spend more time with her family. She later appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2005 and fronted a Channel 4 documentary, Mum, Dad, Alzheimer’s And Me, in 2009.
But she admitted she never felt “completely right” and became increasingly “disconnected” from her family. She began struggling with mood swings, erratic behaviour, and simple tasks — like going to the bank.
In 2021, things came to a head and Martin temporarily moved out of the family home, accusing her of “zoning out” of their marriage. After three weeks apart, they met at a hotel and agreed they wanted to stay together — but that things had to change.
Fiona initially suspected her symptoms were due to Long Covid, which she contracted in 2020, or the menopause. Martin encouraged her to speak with TV menopause specialist Dr Louise Newson, who prescribed hormone replacement therapy. But when there was little improvement, Dr Newson recommended a full assessment.
In 2022, the couple were given the devastating diagnosis: Fiona, then 61, had early onset Alzheimer’s.
