Siân Welby said her father Ian was ‘going through it’ (Picture: Instagram)
This Morning presenter Siân Welby has opened up about her father’s vascular dementia diagnosis.
That radio and TV personality, who is tipped to replace Holly Willoughby on the ITV show, said her 84-year-old dad Ian was ‘going through it’ due to the disease.
‘My dad’s going through it; he has vascular dementia,’ Siân, 37, said on This Morning on Tuesday (January, 23) during a segment on the condition.
‘You’re scared to lose a person that you know, it is quite frightening! Like you say, would I want to take a test knowing I could be susceptible to it?
‘It’s hard to know! I don’t know if I want to know, is ignorance bliss? But then again, if I could do something about it?’
Vascular dementia is a common type of dementia caused by reduced blood flow to the brain and is estimated to affect around 180,000 people in the UK, according to the NHS.
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In happier news, Siân is tipped to replace Holly on This Morning (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
The health body said the condition tends to get worse over time, although it’s sometimes possible to slow it down.
Siân previously spoke about her dad’s health in 2022 when she said he had contracted Covid-19 following his cancer diagnosis.
‘He was so ill, we all thought he was going to die,’ she said about her father, who was 82 years old at the time.
‘He couldn’t even open his mouth to eat, he went down to six and a half stone.’
Siân has previously spoken about her dad’s health on Instagram (Picture: Instagram)
Siân has interviewed dozens of A-Listers including Tom Cruise (Picture: Instagram)
Speaking to The Sun, she continued: ‘He went so downhill in such a short amount of time the doctors thought he had advance dementia and would be bedridden. We had to tell them, “No!” He wasn’t like this at all before!’
Siân added that her dad couldn’t believe that stars including Emma Bunton and Amanda Holden sent him well-wishes.
In happier news, Siân, who previously appeared on This Morning as a showbiz reporter, was recently announced as Dermot O’Leary’s co-host on the ITV show from Monday January 22 to Thursday January 25.
On social media, she reacted by saying: ‘This news is about me and even I don’t believe it.’
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Viewers have so far been impressed with Siân on This Morning with Andy James Michel tweeting: ‘She’s really good!! I like Sian as a presenter. She is GREAT! #thismorning.’
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.
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She said he was ‘going through it.’