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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Victoria Johns

Gregg Wallace's Loose Women chat cut short as he shares fears for non-verbal autistic son

Gregg Wallace admitted he's 'really worried' about his autistic son, Sid, on Loose Women today.

The Masterchef star, 58, shares the adorable four-year-old with his wife Anne-Marie Sterpini, who he married in 2016.

Sid is non-verbal, which means he has difficulty learning how to speak and now Gregg, who is an ambassador for Ambitious About Autism, opened up about what his day-to-day life is like.

He explained: "He [Sid] gets more frustrated because he can't tell you what he wants."

Sharing a video of 'Squid' giving his dad a high-five, the former green grocer said progress is being made after a "year of no eye contact and not answering to his name".

Gregg Wallace opened up about his autistic son on Loose Women (ITV)

However, Gregg then admitted living with an autistic child wasn't easy, explaining: "You don't know why they're having a meltdown. The other day we think he might have banged his nose but we don't know because he can't say.

"This is the problem. We really worry, this is why we need some form of communication. We worry that if he's ill he can't tell you what it is."

After opening up about parenthood, Gregg was then ready to chat about his impressive weight loss but didn't get much time to discuss his health journey.

As the ITV show approached the end of its timeslot, anchor Ruth Langsford told the MasterChef star he had "three seconds" to quickly chat about his body transformation.

"Loose Women always cut off their guests maybe put them on first," one viewer mused on Twitter after Gregg's interview came to an abrupt end earlier today.

Another asked: "Why was Gregg just cut off like that?"

Last year, Gregg revealed he was stepping back from presenting Inside The Factory after seven years as he wants to give more of his attention to his son.

Sid has non-verbal autism (Instagram)

Speaking on Gaby Roslin’s show on BBC Radio London, the presenter said he needed to step away from the show to focus on his son, who needs additional support with education.

Gregg described Sid as a "lovely, lovely little boy" with a "wonderful mother" but admitted "it’s not easy".

Speaking on Loose Women after getting his son diagnosed at the age of three, the star said: "Sid has autism. He’s three, you can’t legally diagnose it in this country until they are two-and-a-half, but we knew at about a year old that we had some issues."

When asked by Coleen Nolan and Kaye Adams what the signs were, the father-of-three shared: "For us – and we found out that this is a key – he wasn't answering to his name, he wasn't playing peek-a-boo .

"He was walking and running around but he's got autism and he's got something called global development delay. So he's not speaking."

Gregg then insisted: "But he is lovely and he is cuddly and he is happy. And if he wants something he grabs your hand and takes you."

Offering advice to parents who think their child may be autistic, he concluded: "Honestly, if you think you might have an issue, go and see someone."

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