Cover Story
TV legend Fiona Phillips chats about family, love, her devastating Alzheimer’s diagnosis and the importance of finding light in the darkness
Fiona is laughing raucously as we sit in the heated beer garden of her local pub in chic south-west London. Dressed all in black, in slim-fitting trousers and a blazer, teamed with a stunning pair of gold-tipped heels, minimal make-up and tousled blonde hair, she has barely aged from the time when she fronted GMTV from 1997 until 2008.
She looks immaculate, and until we start a very long and unexpectedly uplifting conversation, there are few hints of the cruel disease that is creeping in and trying to envelop her life.
Fiona is undeniably kind and warm. If you were friends, you know she would be the first person you could call to give you comfort and sage advice if you were having a hard time. Only now, it’s Fiona herself who is going through an incredibly difficult time, having been diagnosed with earlyonset Alzheimer’s last year, at the age of just 61. The reason why she is so passionate about gracing the cover of w&h is to raise awareness of a disease that impacts so many.
The neurodegenerative disease – the most common form of dementia – affects memory and reasoning, as well as causing fatigue, tiredness, anxiety and mood changes, among other debilitating symptoms. ‘It’s taken so many members of my family and now it’s come for me, this bloody disease,’ she says, her forehead knitting with a mixture of sadness and anger. ‘But I am not my diagnosis. I am still me.’
Fiona has been married to ITV exec and editor of This Morning, Martin Frizell, since 1997. The couple share two sons, Nathaniel, 24, and Mackenzie, 21, who she says have stepped up with more love and understanding than she could ever have imagined.
The main thing she misses about her ‘life before’ is working, which she is still hugely passionate about. ‘I worked bloody hard to get to where I am!’ she says, with her trademark candour. ‘No one handed me anything on a plate and I am proud of what I’ve achieved.’
Fiona has every right to be. She rose from a junior news reporter role in local radio to a TV stalwart, working on news channel CNN in America and becoming one of the most well-known faces on British TV, while also maintaining an (almost-unheard-of) 10-year stint as a newspaper columnist.
At times, Fiona is still as pin-sharp as she has always been. Then, without warning, she becomes aware she is getting confused and appears frustrated with herself.
But her zest for life and unwavering optimism is palpable. Despite her incredible success, she is humble and, at our shoot, Fiona enjoys every minute – effortlessly glamorous and so
