Britain’s longest-serving newsreader has confirmed he has dementia live on air.
Alistair Stewart retired from his role as a regular broadcaster back in March after presenting for GB News since 2021.
He also noted that he wanted to break the news on GB News because he felt they had treated him very well.
He explained: “The headline story – and it is relatively dramatic I suppose – is about six to nine months ago, I began to feel – one of my favourite words – discombobulated. I wasn’t becoming forgetful, but things like doing up your shoelaces properly […] 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.
“And I then decided at the ripe old age of my late fifties, early sixties, that I might have something wrong up here [taps head].`”
Then Stewart went to visit his GP who eventually diagnosed him with dementia.
Speaking in the interview on GB News, the presenter explained that the most difficult thing since being diagnosed with dementia is seeing his wife being “reduced to a carer”.
He added: “I find it tricky, because your health through no fault of your own is reducing this person [his wife] who is the single most important person in your life to the role of a carer.
“And so if you do think there is something wrong with you, then go and see the GP and listen to what he or she says.
“But also do remember that the people you work with and the people you live with and share your life with are the most important people in the entire world.”
Heartbreaking news.
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