Doctor Hilary Jones was visibly moved and close to tears on Wednesday's Lorraine as he reacted to the news that his friend and long serving former co-star's crushing news that she's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's,
On Monday evening, the 62-year-old, who presented GMTV for years, principally as part of a popular double act alongside Eamonn Holmes, opened up about her diagnosis to The Mirror, saying: "It's something I might have thought I'd get at 80 but I was still only 61 years old. I felt more angry than anything else because this disease has already impacted my life in so many ways; my poor mum was crippled with it, then my dad, my grandparents, and my uncle. It just keeps coming back for us."
There was an immediate wave of support for Fiona, the wife of This Morning boss Martin Frizzell, online on Tuesday night, before several high profile TV stars sent heartfelt messages to her live on air on Wednesday, Good Morning Britain anchor Susanna Reid sent her well wishes, as did Lorraine Kelly, right at the start of her show on ITV, praising Fiona for being "amazing."
READ MORE: Lorraine Kelly sends support to ITV star after crushing diagnosis
And someone else who has spoken out in support of Fiona and gone into more detail about her diagnosis and the repercussions of having Alzheimer's is Lorraine regular Dr Hilary.
Having become close with Fiona and off screen, as well as experiencing many cases of Alzheimer's in his profession, Dr Hilary was clearly emotional as he spoke to Lorraine, saying: "I worked with Fiona for ten years at GMTV. Lovely person, very warm, very welcoming to all of her guests, very knowledgeable, as you say, mischievous and fun. My heart goes out to her, sending her all my love.
"I'm so glad she's spoken out about this to raise awareness to help other people. "
Dr Hilary also discussed the treatment Fiona is undergoing, explaining: "She's on the trial, miridesap, is the drug that she's taking which is designed to reduce the amount of amyloid protein which clogs up the nerve cells and stops the neurotransmitters from enabling brain cells to communicate with one another.."
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