Gloria Hunniford has spoken about her health over the years
TV presenter Gloria Hunniford once shared that she “felt so awful” amid a life-threatening health issue. Following the experience in her eighties, she revealed that it had caused her to worry about ageing for the first time in her life.
Gloria, now 85 – who will be seen competing on the Great Celebrity Bake Off for SU2C tomorrow – has spoken about her health over the years.
It was revealed in the interview that doctors later told Gloria that she had sepsis of the kidney. Speaking about that, she said: “Thankfully it hadn’t gone beyond the kidney. I guess that’s why I felt so awful and it did flatten me for a while.”
TV legend Gloria Hunniford has had an incredible career, but faced unbelievable tragedy in her life off screen.
The Loose Women star, who is competing on Channel 4 show The Great British Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer tonight, has lost two husbands and her beloved daughter Caron over the years.
Gloria, now 84, lost her daughter and Blue Peter star Caron Keating in 2004 to breast cancer when she was just 41 years old.
Caron, who also presented ITV This Morning and chat show Family Affairs with Gloria, passed away at her mum’s home after being diagnosed seven years earlier.
She left behind two young sons, Charlie and Gabriel, and husband Russ Lindsay.
Gloria with her late daughter Caron(Image: (Image: Daily Mirror))
Her family issued a heartbreaking statement at the time, saying: “Her husband and children were by her side throughout and her brothers, Michael and Paul, have been a constant support during her illness.
“Caron made a lasting impact on everyone she met. She was a beautiful, funloving, and spirited individual who throughout the last seven years has been a total inspiration to her family and friends.
“It goes without saying that she will leave an unfilled void in the family circle, but she leaves a legacy of wonderful memories and love, which will stay with us all our lives.”
In a 2018 interview with The Mirror, Gloria said: “Losing a child takes you to the darkest spot you could ever imagine.
“There’s something extra hard about getting pregnant, carrying that baby, giving birth, treasuring that child, and then losing her.
“You don’t think all your children will end up with PHDs or anything, but you pray to God you’ll live long enough to see them live happy lives.”
Stephen Way and Gloria Hunniford(Image: Dave Benett, Dave Benett/Getty Images for Hearst)
Gloria was hit by more tragedy in August last year when she lost her husband Stephen Way.
He had suffered a series of debilitating strokes, including a second stroke that left him partially blind in his right eye.
Having been married since 1998, Gloria reflected on the emotional void his passing left in an interview, stating, “Stephen was a gentleman and a giant of a man, who will leave the most enormous void not only in my life but our entire family.
“He was an incredibly kind, generous, and caring man, with a delightfully quirky sense of humour, which remained till the end.”
Gloria also tragically lost her first husband TV director Don Keating in 1997, the father of her three children.
She was presenting a TV show on BBC Northern Ireland when he suddenly died and wasn’t told the news until she came off air.
A spokesman said Ms Hunniford was informed by family members about the death minutes after going off air in Belfast.
