Amanda Holden has sent her support to her Heart Radio co-star Jamie Theakston after he opened up about his dad’s dementia battle live on-air today. During their morning show together, Jamie, 53, shared that he had been to visit his “fiercely independent” father, to which Amanda asked: “How’s he doing? Bless him.”
Jamie replied: “He’s doing OK, he lives alone. Anyone who looks after a relative… he suffers from Dementia, anyone will know how difficult that can be.” The presenter went on to explain that he had an arrangement in place which made his father believe he was doing his own shopping.
“I arrange to get his shopping delivered, I book all his shopping online and he still thinks he’s done his shopping, which is great because it’s an arrangement that suits us both,” Jamie shared, reports the Mirror.
“So I’ll order it and when it comes I go, ‘what did you get?’ and he talks me through what he’s bought for his shopping as he’s unloading all of his shopping”. With the story seemingly pulling on Amanda’s heart strings, she chimed in: “Oh bless him.”
Her co-star went on to share a heartfelt message for those caring for a loved one with dementia, adding: “There’s no right way or wrong way, do whatever suits you both.”
Amanda then mentioned her own personal connection to the condition, having witnessed her grandfather’s struggle.
The presenter first discussed his health in her autobiography No Holding Back, in which she fondly recalled spending many joyful days with him.
“He nurtured my love of music he was fanatical about it,” she explained. “He played record after record, although we were never allowed near his prized player.
“Like all Welshmen, he thought he had the best voice in the world (no one dared tell him he was a b****y terrible singer!”
Amanda continued by sharing that it was her grandad, affectionately known as ‘Papa’, who introduced her to opera, musicals, orchestral pieces and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
After his death, she participated in a campaign promoting the idea of ‘dementia friends’, aiming to increase volunteering, education and support for the rising number of individuals affected by the condition.
Also involved with the campaign was Ray Winstone, Sam Bailey and Ruth Langsford.
Following Ruth’s dad’s death over 10 years ago, she’s previously admitted to worrying about developing dementia herself, but doesn’t want to take a test.
She shared on the How To Be 60 podcast: “If I could do that test and then they said, ‘Right, now you know, this is what you do to stop you getting it. You have to take this tablet, you have to do these exercises, you have to eat this or don’t eat that’.
“But there’s nobody can tell you that, so I almost don’t want to know. I don’t want to know.”
Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden airs weekdays from 6.30am.