Fiona Phillips’ husband has shared a new photo of the former ITV broadcaster as she continues to battle early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Martin Frizell shared a new Instagram post showing Fiona eating breakfast, with her usual blonde bob replaced by longer brunette hair streaked with grey. She grinned at the camera while holding a spoon, appearing to be sitting out in a conservatory for the early meal.
Martin wrote: “Fiona at breakfast today, at one point she was going to work with Andy Burnham as health secretary when Gordon Brown asked her to become a health minister in his government. If the new prime minister, who knows what Alzheimer’s can do from his father’s experience, follows through on making a difference to sufferers like Fiona, his dad and millions of others, then he will become the most consequential politician of his generation.
“For decades no-one listened; dementia became the poor relation to cancer, and yet it’s our biggest killer. Sadly it’s taken someone touched by dementia to take it seriously, but how will we afford to treat it properly?”
He added: “Who knows, but when your family life is altered forever by a dementia diagnosis, you won’t be quibbling about one or two percent extra you’ve contributed to provide to a proper care system.
“If in doubt, spend a day with an Alzheimer’s family and you’ll see why there’s so much hope riding on Andy Burnham and Louise Casey. It cheered up our morning.”
Former GMTV presenter Fiona has been supported by her husband throughout her health battle, and earlier this year he shared a photo of her enjoying an ice cream in the park, while Martin was on tour with his This Much is True Crime podcast.
He said: “Very touched by many nice comments from folk asking about Fiona whilst I'm on our short Tartan Noir Scottish tour so here's a picture of what she's up to in my absence - she's changed Magnum flavours!
"This was Fiona out in the London sunshine this week, and Almond has been replaced by the white chocolate version. Simple pleasures, but a highlight of the day."
