Fiona Phillips’ husband says Andy Burnham gives him ‘hope’ after GMTV presenter’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Film producer Martin Frizell, 67, said Andy Burnham’s social care reforms offer ‘hope’ – and said he hopes the Prime Minister ‘follows through on making a difference to sufferers like Fiona’
14:47, 29 Jul 2026Updated 15:05, 29 Jul 2026
A new picture of former Mirror columnist Fiona Phillips shared by her husband
Fiona Phillips’ husband said Andy Burnham’s proposals for social care offered hope, as he shared a new photograph of the former GMTV presenter.
The Prime Minister unveiled plans today to “fix” the creaking social care sector for good – and has received early backing from one of the country’s most high-profile campaigners on the issue.
Film producer Martin Frizell, 67, began caring for Fiona at home when she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2022 after months of brain fog and anxiety symptoms. Since then, he has repeatedly urged the government to do more for carers, highlighting his own struggles with mental health and the sense of “guilt” that comes with balancing work and full-time care.
Husband Martin Frizell said there was ‘so much hope’ around teh new Prime Minister and the Casey report
On Wednesday, Martin posted a new picture of former Mirror columnist Fiona, 65, smiling in the kitchen of their home – and reflected on how she was once offered a role in government herself, years before her illness.
He wrote: “At one point she was going to work with Andy Burnham as Health Secretary when Gordon Brown asked her to become a health minister in his government.
“If the new Prime Minister, who knows what Alzheimer’s can do from his father’s experience, follows through on making a difference to sufferers like Fiona, his dad and millions of others then he will become the most consequential politician of his generation.
Martin Frizell has appeared on TV chat shows to discuss the devastating impact of Alzheimer’s on his wife(Image: ITV)
“For decades no-one listened, dementia became the poor relation to cancer and yet it’s our biggest killer. Sadly it’s taken someone touched by dementia to take it seriously – but how will we afford to treat it properly? “
Andy Burnham, whose father has Alzheimer’s, promised to reform social care to help “my dad and the millions like him” faced with the unfairness of the current system.
His first steps include accelerating Baroness Louise Casey’s review of social care so it will report next year, drawing up reforms to improve the “strength and the capability” of the workforce, and holding cross-party talks with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to find a consensus on the issue.
Reflecting on the new care proposals and what they could do for families like his, Martin added in his social media post: “When your family life is altered forever by a dementia diagnosis, you won’t be quibbling about one or two per cent extra you’ve contributed to provide to a proper care system.
Fiona Phillips pictured in 2007(Image: Popperfoto via Getty Images)
“If in doubt spend a day with an Alzheimer’s family and you’ll see why there’s so much hope riding on Andy Burnham and Louise Casey. It cheered up our morning.”
Fiona first revealed her diagnosis to the Mirror in July 2023 after living with the condition for 18 months.
She said at the time: “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, my uncle. It just keeps coming back for us.”
In an appearance on Good Morning Britain earlier this year, Martin revealed that Fiona no longer recalls major recent events, such as the previous Christmas or New Year – but said she was “still very much with us”.
£She was the world’s most stubborn woman, and she’s still the world’s most stubborn woman, which is difficult when you try to give her medicine”, he said.
