Fiona Phillips' close friend shares 'cruelest' way Alzheimer's has changed TV star

Fiona Phillips' life has "shrunk" due to her battle with Alzheimer's, her friend Alison Phillips has said. The former editor of The Mirror appeared on ITV's Lorraine to speak about the ex TV presenter, who revealed she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2023.

Fiona recently opened up about what life is like for her since being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, which is the most common cause of dementia in the UK and causes an ongoing decline of brain functioning. This includes memory, thinking skills and other abilities.

Opening up about how Alzheimer's had changed Fiona, Alison said that her life has changed drastically due to the debilitating disease. "There is such energy about Fiona, when you're with her, there's a real sense of that energy," Alison told Lorraine Kelly.

READ MORE: Good Morning Britain host apologises as they hold back tears during emotional interview

READ MORE: Beloved BBC daytime show suddenly pulled from schedules as fans left devastated

"She had been such a confident young woman, she'd travelled all over the world, she lived in LA. But her life with Alzheimer's has shrunk so that now she doesn't really like going out. That's what's really cruel about the whole thing."

She later added: "One of the most shocking things I found through knowing Fiona is you get that diagnosis and that's it. She was lucky, you could say, because she got on some trial drugs which she did for a year but otherwise, there's nothing...it is a very lonely existence."

Former Mirror columnist Fiona co-wrote a book about her experience with the condition alongside her husband, television executive Martin Frizzell. In the book, she revealed how she began experiencing "brain fog and anxiety" but initially thought they were symptoms of the menopause.

"The simplest thing, like going to the bank to ask about my account, would send me into a total panic, and there were mood swings too, which meant even I was finding my behaviour unpredictable," she wrote.

Fiona's marriage to Martin also came under strain as a result. Blaming Alzheimer's for "at least part of it", she said: "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 [Martin] would say to me."

Speaking on This Morning, Martin revealed that Fiona "doesn't quite know" that he's her husband at times. "She does recognise me most of the time. She doesn't quite know that I'm her husband, but she knows who I am," he said.

Join The Mirror’s WhatsApp Communityor follow us on Google News, Flipboard, Apple News, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Threads- or visit The Mirror homepage.