Eamonn Holmes pays heartfelt tribute to Fiona Phillips as he opens up on his own anxieties

Phillips announced that she had been diagnosed with the disease, having previously thought that the symptoms might be related to the menopause.

Speaking to his co-host Isabel Webster, Holmes opened up about his friendship with Phillips as he admitted "she always did fear it would come after her".

"Fiona Phillips has sadly revealed that she has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 62," he said.

"She always feared it, because her mother had it and her father had it, she always did fear that it would come after her and sadly that has been the case."

Webster added: "So young, I texted you as soon as I saw that this morning because... she talks so much about it as you say and I think even her uncle had it.

"Her family has been ravaged by this disease but she always thought she could hopefully get to 80 or something, 62 is no age at all."

Speaking about his own experience Holmes said: “I think of my own wife, her father died, and her mother has to live with it at the moment and anybody who's in that situation will be thinking, is it coming to me next?

“We wish Fiona all the best.”

Webster concluded the tribute saying: “It's just such a cruel illness because it takes away all your memories or your personality. For family members to watch, I think it's particularly hard.

“And I think 62 is no age, she always probably suspected. She's a dear friend of yours.

"I think she always suspected she would get it, but not at 62. We send her our best wishes.”

Phillips said she had been under the care of a menopause specialist but her “brain fog” remained and it was recommended that she seek help for her memory loss.

The presenter said she was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer’s after months of tests and revealed that both of her parents had the disease, with her mother Amy developing it at the age of 54.