Category Entertainment News

Martin Frizell, who has been married to Fiona Phillips for 28 years, explained his thinking around his “brutally honest” opinion the TV presenter would have been better off diagnosed with cancer

Fiona Phillips’ husband says he wishes the TV presenter had been diagnosed with cancer instead of Alzheimer’s disease – because she’d at least might have had chance at a cure.

Martin Frizell, who married the journalist and broadcaster in 1998, said there is a lack of support and care packages for those with Alzheimer’s. He himself has become Fiona’s primary carer as, following her diagnosis in her early 60s in 2023, the disease has taken its toll on the journalist’s mind.

The mum of two told today how she became unaware she was forgetting things, or how she kept repeating herself. Martin, who quit his role as editor of This Morning last year, stating he expected his “family priorities to [soon] change”, recognises he “has to stay well for Fiona” because, should he fall ill, “the whole house of cards would collapse”.

However, he says, had Fiona contracted a cancer, a treatment plan would have been available and there may be hope. In an extract adapted from Fiona’s upcoming book, Remember When: My Life With Alzheimer’s, Martin writes: “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. “

READ MORE: ITV star makes big career announcement after leaving This Morning

The former This Morning boss continued: “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.”

It is an opinion reflected by Fiona, who has two sons with Martin. She writes, in the same passage: “I gently push the door open, but then, in that very moment, I sense the person I love has disappeared again. They’re gone. The memory has gone. And I’m all alone. And that’s how it is for me now, living with Alzheimer’s. “

Both of Fiona’s parents had Alzheimer’s but tests have shown the broadcaster, who was on GMTV for 15 years, does not carry the gene so neither of her sons would.

It is small comfort for Martin, who adds in the candid extract released today: “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.

“Sorting the bank accounts, utility direct debits, hospital appointments, clothes, washing, parking permits, shopping, cooking, tidying the house – in fact, all the stuff I took for granted because Fiona dealt with it (as well as her own career) – became my responsibilities, along with a seven-day-a-week job. It was knackering. There were times I felt drained, physically and emotionally. On top of the stress, the boys and I are enduring a kind of living grief – a slow goodbye to the woman we love. “

Today’s horoscope for Saturday, July 5, sees one star sign enjoy the finer things, as another tries to trust their own instincts

It’s Saturday, July 5 and one star sign is feeling in need of advice, while another catches up on their to-do list.

There are 12 zodiac signs – Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces – and the horoscopes for each can give you the lowdown on what your future holds, be it in work, your love life, your friends and family or more.

These daily forecasts have been compiled by astrologer Russell Grant, who has been reading star signs for over 50 years. From Aries through to Pisces, here’s what today could bring for your horoscope – and what you can do to be prepared.

Aries (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Avoid people who seem to have been deliberately putting problems in your way. Distance yourself from anyone who has been dragging you down. While you won’t want to come across as being unkind, staying positive in a difficult situation is starting to drain you.

Taurus (Apr 21 – May 21)

Today promises to be a really good day for you. Share your happiness with everyone you meet. Enjoy a delicious lunch with friends, take part in group activities and let that joy multiply. Make the most of the positive cosmic energy that surrounds you.

Gemini (May 22 – June 21)

Stay calm and be sensible when meeting up with friends or mixing in a crowd. Enjoy the time you all spend together without feeling the need to steal the spotlight. Constantly being the centre of attention can be quite stressful and exhausting. For now, stay in the background.

Cancer (June 22 – July 23)

You may not have been planning on going anywhere today or doing anything this evening but a surprise invitation could come your way. Take this chance to try a new restaurant or bar. Give yourself permission to relax and have fun. If you’re in a group, agree on a designated driver.

Leo (July 24 – Aug 23)

Events going on around you have become the centre of everyone’s conversations. You’re getting advice from friends and workmates and now even your family is chiming in. While many people have their opinions, you really need to trust your own instincts.

Virgo (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

You often find it hard to switch off especially when responsibilities are heavy. Make some time to relax today. Take deep breaths; meditate and enjoy some calming music. Spend some time playing fetch with your dog. Walk in nature. Choose activities that bring you peace and tranquillity.

Libra (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

A kind and supportive friend will introduce you to the finer things in life that will immediately appeal to you. They have a charming way of getting their ideas across which makes you want to take their advice. Someone at home is asking you to be wary of people you hardly know.

Scorpio (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

A friend or colleague will seek your guidance on a health issue. This makes you uncomfortable as you don’t want to offer advice when you aren’t familiar with the details and know nothing about their circumstances. Suggest they reach out to their doctor or practice nurse.

Sagittarius (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

It is time to deal with those tasks you pushed aside earlier even if you still aren’t keen on doing them. Be sure to express your gratitude to those who have been a good help to you lately and people who support you daily. It will mean a lot to them to know they are appreciated.

Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

Share your thoughts and opinions openly for a change. Your insights will benefit a group project. Although you might prefer to remain in the background, join in the conversation. Don’t be shy. A new study project that’s being discussed will get your interest.

Aquarius (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

You can trust your instincts when tackling family issues and other problems. You could find it beneficial to seek advice from a sensible friend. Above all, remember that there is no need to have to face everything by yourself.

Pisces (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

Move beyond your past and let go of ties that have been holding you ba ck. Start shaping a happier future for yourself now. Tackle issues that have been keeping you from fulfilling your true potential. Release bad habits and embrace the power of forgiveness.

READ MORE: ‘Great for mature skin’ £36 face oil now £10 that fans say ‘beats Elemis and Estée Lauder’

Fiona Phillips, in an emotional, tell-all interview, details her frustrating journey with Alzheimer’s with which the journalist and broadcaster was diagnosed aged 61

Fiona Phillips has described the challenges with Alzheimer’s as “like trying to chase a £5 note that’s fallen out of your purse on a gusty day” in a candid article.

The journalist, who was diagnosed with the disease aged 61 in 2023, said every time “she thinks she had caught the £5 note, it whips away again” in an emotive passage about her journey. The mother of two told how she had “no awareness” that she kept repeating herself and she sometimes forgot what she was doing or where she was going soon after the diagnosis.

And now, the 64-year-old broadcaster is living with Alzheimer’s, with much of her care being done by husband Martin Frizell, who quit his role as editor of This Morning last year, stating he expected his “family priorities to [soon] change”. Fiona, with Martin’s support, has written a book called Remember When: My Life With Alzheimer’s, which will be published later this month, and extracts from which have been adapted for the media today.

In these passages, Fiona, who presented GMTV for 15 years, said: “Everywhere I look there are memories. I know they are there. And yet so many of them feel out of my reach now.

“It’s like I stretch out to touch them, but then just as I’m about to grasp it, the memory skips away from me. And I can’t catch up with it. Like trying to chase a £5 note that’s fallen out of your purse on a gusty day. Each time I think I’ve caught it, it whips away again.

“I couldn’t be writing this at all without my husband Martin and my closest friends, who are helping me articulate more clearly the thoughts I once had that are now harder for me to reach. “

READ MORE: ‘Doctors said I was too young to get dementia – now I have a rare condition’

Fiona, who is also a Mirror columnist, added: “Nowadays, I can find talking about my life agonisingly difficult. Sometimes I get halfway through a sentence and I can’t remember where I was heading with it or the word I was looking for. It feels awful.

“Gradually, Martin and I thought maybe I should start telling more people. Martin felt that if more people knew what was happening to me then they wouldn’t judge me if I did ever start behaving unusually – not that I thought I did. It was hardly like I was going down the street half-clothed, yelling at people.

“But he and the doctors, who I was constantly backwards and forwards to see, would say that I kept repeating myself and that sometimes I forgot what I was doing or where I was going. The strange thing was I had no awareness of that. “

The Mirror told, in 2023, how the star, born in Canterbury, Kent, was 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.

Yet it is too little too late for Fiona, so much so Martin said in the extracts he wishes his wife of 28 years had been diagnosed with cancer instead. He added: “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. “

The couple try to maintain a optimistic outlook but, just like The Mirror’s recent case study Janet Allen and her daughter Emily, Martin and Fiona ultimately find it difficult to keep hopeful. Emily told us it was “the scariest thing” to learn her mum, from Reading, Berkshire, had got Alzheimer’s, which has left her needing care from loved ones too.

Veteran stage and TV performer Gerald Harper – who was in a brief relationship with an actress 40 years his junior – has died.

Gerald made his name on British TV in the 1960s and 1970s, starring as the lead role in the adventure drama Adam Adamant Lives! and then as the main character in Hadleigh. He then went on to forge an illustrious career on the stage, featuring in various West End shows, including Crucifer of Blood and A Personal Affair at the Haymarket Theatre.

Although he was also in popular films, such as 1979 mystery comedy The Lady Vanishes, Gerald will also be remembered for his relationship with Coupling and Green Wing star Sophie Alexander. He was in his early 70s when Sophie, then aged around 30, became lovers. Sophie was at the height of her own fame at the time, as she was a regular in sitcom Coupling and had been in Smack the Pony for four years.

Speaking at the time, a source who saw the couple together told our sister title, the Sunday People: “They were super-glued together! They were all over each other and didn’t care who saw them. Funnily enough, the young lady was making a lot of the running and kept grabbing him to French kiss him – it was quite a display. “

But Sophie, who has since been in Hollywood film I Could Never Be Your Woman, ended things with Gerald in 2002. She left Gerald for actor Peter Serafinowicz, whom she since married.

Gerald died on Wednesday, his agent confirmed yesterday. CDM Talent Agency posted on social media: “It is with great sadness that Gerald Harper has recently passed away – he was a valued client before he went to Spain to enjoy his retirement. ” It is unclear where the actor died.

He leaves behind two grown-up children, one from each of his two marriages before he met Sophie. Gerald, who also a radio presenter, was married to actress Jane Downs from 1957 until they divorced in 1975. In 1976, he married Carla Rabaiotti, a former Pan American air stewardess; they were divorced in 1983. He had a daughter with Heartbeat star Jane, who herself passed away in 2015, and a son with Carla.

Yet it is the fling with Sophie, long after the marriages, which caused the stir in Notting Hill, central London, where Gerald lived. Sophie reportedly moved in with the star, some 42 years her senior, which was believed to have raised eyebrows in the affluent area. It is said, though, Gerald was “absolutely bereft” when Sarah left him for Amandaland star Peter in 2002.

Since then, Gerald’s TV work declined and he focused more on plays and radio presenting. The charismatic performer presented The Sunday Affair for Capital Radio in the 1970s, and a series of Saturday afternoon shows for BBC Radio 2 in the early 1990s, in which he played classic songs from the past and gave away bottles of champagne and chocolates.

Speaking to the Daily Express in 2006, dad-of-two Gerald, who grew up in Barnet, northwest London, said: “I was a TV star on my own terms and for the best part of 20 years I virtually didn’t have a day off. “

Poppy Delevingne has given birth to a baby girl.

The model fell pregnant last year despite “making peace” with the fact she may not become a mother. The 39-year-old star, who grew up in central London, shared her happy news on Instagram on Friday, posting a black and white photograph of her holding her daughter’s tiny hand.

And Poppy confirmed the tot’s name – Kaia Moon Keswick – in the Instagram post, liked by more than 20,000 of the model’s fans. The socialite wrote: “20. 05. 25 The stars aligned, & then there was you. KAIA MOON KESWICK. Welcome to the world, baby bear. You have our hearts, our everything. “

Kaia was born on May 20 but Poppy and partner Archie Keswick, a billionaire, announced the happy news yesterday. Kaia is the couple’s first child together but Archie also shares two daughters with interior designer Alice Rugge-Price, to whom he was previously married.

Poppy, who is also an actress, announced in January that she was expecting her first child with Archie, who is a hotel executive. Last year, Poppy noticed, during a fitting for the Burberry show at London Fashion Week, her clothes were fitting tighter than usual. She went on to take a pregnancy test, which confirmed her suspicions. After going for routine scans, she discovered she was pregnant with a baby girl.

And since Poppy gave birth, fans have rushed to congratulate her and Archie. One posted on Instagram: “Huge congratulations to you and A! ” Singer Shaznay Lewis, who was in All Saints, posted: “Congratulations! ! Welcome to the world baby Kaia! So happy for you! Sending love. ” A further fan wrote: “Oh I love her name! Congratulations! “

Poppy married James Cook, a former model, who works for his family’s aerospace company, in May 2014. They divorced in September 2022, some time after which the socialite started a relationship with Archie.

Earlier this year, Poppy’s sisters Cara, 32, and Chloe, 39, were “elated” to find out they were set to be aunties to a girl, with the three of them meeting up in New York City to celebrate Poppy’s news. The siblings were thrilled to be welcoming their niece, with Poppy recalling how they spent the day together, with lots of chatting and “stroking” her growing bump.

But speaking in an interview last year, Poppy admitted she thought her time to have a baby may have passed her by and in a bid to “protect” her unborn baby, Poppy and Archie didn’t tell even friends and family until she was around four months. Poppy admitted she was “nervous” about her pregnancy.

EXCLUSIVE: Noel Gallagher’s ex Meg Mathews cheered him on from the audience during his Oasis comeback gig in Cardiff, but she left early – before one of the band’s more painful songs

Meg Mathews left Oasis’ Cardiff gig early this evening – as they returned for a special and heartbreaking song. Meg had been on hand to cheer on her ex-husband, Noel Gallagher, on the first night of the tour.

She was spotted arriving today, with a source telling the Mirror: “After posting about her ex-husband for weeks, Meg Mathews had a prime seat for watching the band. She was in great spirits before the set, watching Richard Ashcroft with pals.”

However, she left before the encore and was seen departing the show before the band came back to sing some of their biggest songs including Don’t Look Back In Anger, Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova.

Wonderwall may be a sore subject for Meg, as Noel had originally claimed he’d written it on a rainy Tuesday night for his girlfriend. He said back in 1996: “It’s about my girlfriend, Meg Mathews. She had a company which folded and she was feeling a bit sorry for herself. The sentiment is that there was no point in her feeling down, she has to sort my life out for me because I’m in bits had the time. “

However, in 2002, Noel did a complete U-turn and insisted Wonderwall actually had nothing to do with Meg. He said: “The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media who jumped on it, and how do you tell your missus it’s not about her once she’s read it is? It’s a song about an imaginary friend who’s gonna come and save you from yourself. “

Meg even commented about the backtrack. In 2005, she said: “All of a sudden, when I was getting divorced, he said it wasn’t about me, so I don’t really understand. “

It comes just days after Meg was forced to deny that she and Noel had decided to give their relationship another go.

She had been sharing throwback snaps on social media, prompting fans to believe that they were back together following the breakdown of Noel’s second marriage.

READ MORE: Oasis have released new tickets for UK tour – how to buy yours if you missed out

Alongside the pics, fans have been desperate to see them reunite. One wrote in the comments: “Please tell us you are back together again,” whilst another added: “So nice to see you still love and support your ex. So healthy to have that bond. Especially when you have a beautiful daughter together. “

A third shared: “Meg these pics are the best! ! You’ll always have a bond, you share an amazing child who is a credit to you both,” with a fourth writing: “The best era, and the best couple, wish you two got back together. ” But Meg said it was a firm “no” when asked if she and Noel were an item again.