TV veteran Alistair Stewart has revealed he has been diagnosed with early-onset vascular dementia, reports Breaking News.
The 71-year-old former ITV news presenter retired from regular broadcasting on GB News earlier this year after almost fifty years on the air.
In March he hosted the final episode of Alistair Stewart and Friends, a GB News talk show.
Stewart left ITV in 2020, where he presented a variety of afternoon news and current affairs programmes, including the Evening News, Lunchtime News and News at Ten.
He told GB News programme The Camilla Tominey Show on Sunday: “I mean, the headline story, and it is relatively dramatic, I suppose, is that about six, nine months ago, I began to feel one of my favourite words, a bit discombobulated. I wasn’t becoming forgetful but things like doing your shoelaces properly – that’s how I wear these lovely moccasins now – making sure your tie was straight, remembering that the call time for your programme is four o’clock and not five o’clock, not turning up early or late, and stuff like that. I then decided at my ripe old age of late 50s, early 60s, that I might have something wrong,” reports Breaking News.
He added: “The thing I have found most difficult to deal with, genuinely, is the impact it’s had on Sally, my wife. We’ve been married for nearly half a century, and, you know, your life partner, your lover, all of those descriptions that are personal and intimate, that person is reduced – I choose my words very carefully – almost to a carer,” reports Breaking News.
Dementia UK’s Senior Consultant Admiral Nurse, Victoria Lyons, expressed her condolences and wished support for Stewart and his family after learning about his diagnosis.
She added: “By choosing to speak publicly about his diagnosis, Alastair will raise vital awareness of dementia and we hope that this will encourage others to seek advice if they have concerns for their brain health,” reports Breaking News.
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