The husband of former ITV presenter Fiona Phillips, 64, shared the gut-wrenching moment she failed to recognise her own son.
Martin Frizell, 66, stepped down from his role as editor of This Morning in Spring 2025 to help care for his wife after her early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2023.
New book, ‘Remember when’, co-written by the pair, details the crushing details of the diagnosis, and reveals the reality is far worse than initially anticipated.
Frizell detailed the moment Phillips failed to recognize her son, Nathaniel, 26, and was concerned there was a possible intruder in their South West London Home.
Frizell recalled: “One weekend, Nat was home from the Army and making tea in the kitchen while Fiona and I sat watching television. She became terribly distressed.
‘Who’s that man in the kitchen?’ she asked me. ‘That’s Nat,’ I said gently. ‘Our son. He’s home for the weekend.’
“She was in such a state that she didn’t even seem upset that she had asked the question.”
He added his son would’ve been “devastated” if he had heard the heartbreaking comment.
Fiona has been suffering from a “separate and undisclosed physical illness for months,” alongside Alzheimer’s, which Frizell believes has since been exacerbated due to her severe pain.
Frizell has described the mother of two as being “close to delirium” at points, as well as the pair becoming “socially isolated” since the diagnosis.
He added his wife hasn’t cooked in years, and ignores all her designer clothing as she battles her heartbreaking symptoms.
The former broadcaster and journalist’s condition has rapidly deteriorated in the two years since her public diagnosis, which she initially mistook for ‘brain fog and anxiety’ due to the menopause.
When Phillips announced her diagnosis, she said the disease had already “decimated” her family, after her mother died of the cruel disease in 2006, and her father in 2012.
Fiona was initially diagnosed in early 2022 at the age of 61, but kept her condition private for a year.
The pair also have a younger son, 23-year-old Mackenzie, who lives with the couple at their Wandsworth family home.
Fiona was initially scared to tell her sons about her crippling diagnosis due to both her parents suffering from the disease, however doctors reassured the duo that the boys were not at the same increased risk.
Despite being at less risk, it isn’t any easier for the family to watch the former GMTV star in pain.
“It’s tough for them. They see their mum like this and it’s very upsetting,” Frizell explained, “but what choice do we have but to keep on going?”
The former columnist isn’t doing any interviews or press tours surrounding the book’s release, as they want to let the words speak for themselves.
The couple’s heartfelt book, ‘Remember When: My life with Alzheimer’s’ is set to be released on July 17, 2025.
