Fiona Phillips diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease

TV presenter Fiona Phillips has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.

The 62-year-old revealed in an interview with The Mirror that she was given the diagnosis a year ago after experiencing symptoms of anxiety and brain fog.

“This disease has ravaged my family and now it has come for me. And all over the country there are people of all different ages whose lives are being affected by it – it’s heart-breaking. I just hope I can help find a cure which might make things better for others in the future.

“It’s something I might have thought I’d get at 80. But I was still only 61 years old. I felt more angry than anything else because this disease has already impacted my life in so many ways; my poor mum was crippled with it, then my dad, my grandparents, my uncle. It just keeps coming back for us.”

She is now undergoing trials for a revolutionary new drug which scientists hope could slow or even reverse the illness for millions of sufferers in the years to come.

‘Fiona hosts ‘3 at 3′ for ITV’

Having begun her broadcasting career on local radio, Fiona became most famous to telly audiences as a co-presenter of GMTV, where she began as entertainment correspondent in 1993 before being elevated to main co-host initially alongside Eamonn Holmes and later Andrew Castle and Ben Shephard.

Fiona has also appeared on shows including Watchdog, OKTV!, Lorraine and Panorama. She also presented The Fiona Phillips Show for BBC Radio LDN 94.9FM.

She is married to This Morning editor Martin Frizell who has recently been engulfed in the ‘toxic’ accusations against ITV Daytime. The announcement today from Fiona may go some way to explaining his odd behaviour following the departure of Phillip Schofield from This Morning earlier this year.