Celebrity
Presenter Gloria Hunniford on family, why she isn’t ready to give up working and her friendship with Sir Cliff Richard
While she may be Loose Women’s oldest panellist, Gloria Hunniford is still young at heart. The 84-year-old has graced our screens for six decades now and hasn’t any plans on hanging up her mic just yet.
Discussing her quest to keep working she tells Woman’s Weekly, ‘If I had a boring job I probably wouldn’t still be doing it, but as I love my job, why would I give it up?’
The TV presenter also credits her homeland for her success, explaining, ‘I feel that people from Northern Ireland have a very good work ethic. I’ve been making money ever since I was seven years old [as a semiprofessional singer].’
To add to her glittering career, Gloria is also mother to Caron, Paul and Michael from her first marriage to Don Keating. Sadly, their relationship didn’t last and she relocated to London in the 1980s, where she later met hairdresser Stephen Way, and tied the knot for a second time in 1998.
Tragically, Gloria lost her eldest daughter, Caron, to breast cancer in 2004, aged just 41. Gloria once described the grief as ‘a black hole’ she thought she would never get out of. Fortunately, her work life has proved a positive distraction and she often cites it for pulling her through tough times.
Incredibly, this year will mark a decade since Gloria joined the Loose Women panel – so what is her secret to succeeding on daytime TV’s biggest talk show?
‘I think all the Loose Women are brought in because of their different age groups. They’re obviously much younger than me, so my ideas might be totally different to theirs, and that way you get different perspectives. We talk about everything and anything, but obviously you have to be tasteful in what you say,’ she reasons.
However, the former Strictly contestant discloses her one topic that is off limits – and it has three letters.
‘You can make it quite fun but I would never talk about any level of sex. It’s not a subject that I ever would have spoken about growing up, and I always say, my mother would turn in her grave if she thought I was talking about sex on live TV. You find a way around it and police yourself, but everything else I will chat about,’ she admits.
Along with her Loose Women duties, Gloria also co-presents BBC’s consumer programme Rip Off Britain. Reflecting on the show, she says, ‘The schedule might be from half five in the morning until 6.30pm at night, so it’s wild and you just work, sleep, work, sleep.’
Clearly her work is a labour of love for the broadcaster, who states, ‘I meet wonderful
