Ruth Langsford, a regular on Loose Women since 2012, lost her dad Dennis to complications of Alzheimer’s disease and is now watching her mum battle the condition
Loose Women star Ruth Langsford says she has “learned to accept” the toll Alzheimer’s disease is taking on her mother.
The TV presenter, 65, admits Joan cannot remember anyone’s name but remains in positive spirits in her dementia care home in Surrey. Ruth says she too must keep optimistic — or she’d “cry” through the challenges the battle presents.
Joan, 94, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease around eight years ago, around five years after her partner Dennis — Ruth’s father — died of complications linked to his Alzheimer’s disease. Ruth’s personal experiences have now led to the star to back a campaign designed to get people talking about dementia.
The former This Morning host said: “You have to laugh, otherwise you’d cry. Acceptance is the hardest part, but I’ve learned that now… She’s (Joan) always in good spirits though, always smiling. She loves music and socialising – although she can’t remember anyone’s name.”
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Ruth said she has found Joan’s diagnosis and deterioration easier to cope with following her experience with her dad, who battled the dementia for 10 years. Ruth, herself a mum of one, continued: “I used to rail against Dad’s memory loss and confusion. Now I’m much softer and more accepting of Mum’s because I’ve learned so much from coping with Dad’s. I know now it absolutely wasn’t helping him when I’d say, ‘But you must remember that, Dad’. He’d look at me blankly because he literally did not.”
The star’s candid interview with the Daily Mail comes after she revealed she needed therapy following her split with Eamonn Holmes. The broadcasters were married for 14 years until they separated in 2024.
It posed Ruth a further challenge but she has found the strength to open up and raise awareness of dementia. The presenter, who before her onscreen days was a continuity announcer for ITV, supports the new drive Alzheimer’s Society and the Daily Mail have launched to help others.
“One in three people will develop dementia, which is the UK’s biggest killer. It doesn’t get the funding it needs. Raising money for research into a cure is key… If just one person reads this and thinks: ‘Dad is doing some odd things. Maybe I’ll take him to the GP to get him checked’, I’ve done my job — because there is help available for managing symptoms and slowing them down,” Ruth continued.
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
Although Joan often forgets when she last saw her daughter, Ruth says her mum still enjoys her company and that of other family members both in the care home in Surrey, and at relatives’ homes.
Ruth has referred to these personal experiences during discussions around dementia on This Morning and Loose Women. On one occasion on the latter, the host’s customary professional composure deserted her and she was unable to suppress her tears.
