02 December 2023 , 00:01
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Fiona Phillips is determined to carry on living her “best life” despite her dementia diagnosis.
The TV host, who plans to travel the world next year, first revealed she has Alzheimer’s in the Mirror in July. And in a new interview, Fiona, 62, said: “I’m determined to carry on living my best life. I am not my diagnosis. I am still me.”
Fiona, a presenter on breakfast show GMTV from 1993 to 2008, was diagnosed last year. She said: “I ask myself why I got this dreadful disease. I wonder whether all the years of getting up so early when I was working on GMTV contributed to me getting Alzheimer’s so young. Getting my diagnosis was devastating.”
Fiona Phillips first revealed she has Alzheimer’s in the Mirror in July (Daily Mirror)Both her parents died due to Alzheimer’s. Fiona is taking part in clinical trials for a drug to treat the degenerative disease.
She said: “It was about two years ago that I started to realise something wasn’t quite right. Initially, I put my symptoms, like getting confused and fatigued, down to menopause. The main thing I had with menopause was this crippling anxiety and brain fog but I knew this was different. I knew it [Alzheimer’s] was in my family but I didn’t ever let myself think it might affect me too one day.”
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Fiona hopes that the drug trial will slow the disease. She told woman&home magazine: “It involves a new drug and a placebo – and I have no idea which one I’m on. When I went for my check-up in October, they did cognitive tests, which showed that I was in the same place as I was the previous year. I’m hopeful the drug is holding the disease where it is.”
Fiona, who is married to This Morning boss Martin Frizell and has two children, is determined not to let the disease define her. She said: “I’ve got big plans for 2024. I have made a plan to travel. Martin and I may downsize and spend the kids’ inheritance travelling.”
She admits the disease has changed her. She said: “I speak my mind a lot more. Martin says I have no filter – it’s true.”
The January Christmas issue of woman&home is on sale from December 7.
Help the Alzheimer’s Society be there for everyone affected by dementia this Christmas. Go to alzheimers.org.uk/christmas