Fiona Phillips’ husband Martin Frizell has issued a heartbreaking update on his wife’s condition as she battles Alzheimer’s disease.
The former GMTV host was diagnosed with the progressive brain disorder in 2022 at the age of just 61.
And after the impact Alzheimer’s had on their marriage was laid bare in an exclusive extract from her memoir in the Mail, Martin issued a positive update on Fiona’s condition.
Martin, 66, took to Instagram on Monday to share a sweet throwback picture with his wife, 64, taken at Silverstone in 2022.
He revealed a ‘smile had been put on his face’ because in a recent conversation with Fiona, she had been able to remember details of the outing – even though it had taken place three years prior.
Ahead of Lando Norris winning the F1 British GP, Martin shared the picture with Fiona, captioned: ‘Fond memories in Lando’s garage at Silverstone from ‘22, good luck to This Morning’s adopted son today.
‘Fiona remembers meeting and speaking with Lando, what a great treat this was and quite a few of the details – put a smile on my face today.’
Over the weekend, the Mail published exclusive extracts from Fiona’s upcoming memoir, Remember When: My Life With Alzheimer’s.
In the tome, the pair – who wed in 1997 and share two children – revealed their marriage was ‘falling apart’ as a result of Fiona’s then undiagnosed battle with the disease.
Fiona explained: ‘My marriage was coming under increasing strain.
‘I’m sure the disease was at least partly responsible, but at the time neither of us could see it. I just became more and more disconnected from Martin and the boys.
‘”You’ve totally zoned out of our family and our marriage,” he would say to me. “Don’t be so bloody ridiculous!” I’d yell back.
‘But, if I’m honest, I think he was right. I just didn’t seem to have the energy for any of it any more.
‘I didn’t realise quite how seriously Martin felt about it all until one evening he announced he was moving out.
‘”Stop being so ridiculous!'” I yelled. “I’m just worn out. I’m tired – of everything.”
‘”That’s what you’ve been saying for years,'” he replied. “Maybe this – our marriage – is what’s making you so tired.”‘
Fiona first met Martin when she was working on GMTV as a presenter and he was its chief correspondent.
He later popped the question after they had been dating for just four weeks, before they went to Las Vegas to tie the knot in 1997.
Last year, he revealed he was stepping down as editor of ITV’s This Morning after 10 years in charge, in order to be ‘around much more’ for his wife during her Alzheimer’s battle.
Martin confessed in the upcoming memoir that he ‘wishes’ Fiona had been diagnosed with cancer rather than Alzheimer’s.
Detailing his thoughts on Fiona’s diagnosis, he admitted: ‘Being brutally honest, I wish Fiona had contracted cancer instead.
‘It’s a shocking thing to say, but at least then she might have had a chance of a cure, and certainly would have had a treatment pathway and an array of support and care packages. But that’s not there for Alzheimer’s.
‘Just like there are no funny or inspiring TikTok videos or fashion shoots with smiling, healthy, in-remission survivors.
‘After someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, they are pretty much left to their own devices. There is nothing more that can be done and you are left to cope alone.
‘Bit by bit, it takes everything. Through time, even the most glamorous, glittering star – such as Fiona was – will be wiped away.
‘As time has passed, I have come to understand that if I were to fall ill or worse, the whole house of cards would collapse. I have had to stay well for Fiona.’
Also in the extract, Fiona revealed she ‘blocked out’ memories of her 2005 Strictly Come Dancing stint because he was ‘traumatised’ by professional dancer Brendan Cole.
She detailed her time on the BBC show, sharing how she felt when footage of Brendan ‘shouting and swearing’ at her during rehearsals resurfaced amid the show’s bullying probe.
Fiona wrote: ‘He could also be seen looking at my dancing and saying, “Pathetic, it’s not good enough!” Then I’m begging him to “stop shouting” and worrying that I look completely ridiculous.
‘There’s a clip where I say to the cameraman that Brendan is looking at me like he’s stepped in something.
‘I really don’t remember much of that time now – maybe I blocked it out because all I recall is the sense that it was incredibly traumatic.’
Fiona continued: ‘I was on the brink of tears most of the time and felt utterly exhausted.
‘And it all seemed so pointless. Brendan would be swinging me around the dance floor for a paso doble and I’d be thinking, “I’ve just put Mum in a care home, what on Earth am I doing dressed up to the nines in a dancing competition?”
‘I should probably have told the crew – or even Brendan – how much I was struggling, but I didn’t. I just stumbled on. Literally.
‘Fortunately (although I don’t think Brendan saw it that way), we were voted out in week four. It was all over on Bonfire Night. What a relief!’
Brendan did not have his Strictly contract renewed in 2018 and famously became tearful when he announced the news on Lorraine in January of that year. Fiona later branded his axing ‘karma’.
MailOnline has contacted Brendan’s representatives for comment.
Following Fiona’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis she was put on a drugs trial in an attempt to slow down the symptoms, something which she says appears to be working for her.
In a previous interview with Women&Home magazine, Fiona said: ‘I’m on a clinical trial and the signs are positive.
‘I’m taking part in a revolutionary drug trial that’s trying to find a cure. It involves a brand-new drug and a placebo, and I have no idea which one I’m on.
‘When I went for my six-month check-up in October, they did cognitive tests to see where my brain was at, which showed that I was in the same place as I was the previous year.
‘I’m hopeful that the drug is holding the disease where it is. I’d rather not have to be on the trial but I’m very grateful I am.
‘There are risks, including bleeding on the brain, so I’m a guinea pig, but there’s a real chance it could help.’
Remember When: My Life With Alzheimer’s, by Fiona Phillips will be published on July 17.
