Gloria Hunniford wants to keep working to dodge grief
Gloria Hunniford lost her daughter Caron Keating in 2004 and her husband Stephen Way in August 2024, and she has admitted work helps her to avoid the “constant analysis of grief”.
Gloria Hunniford has vowed to keep working to avoid the “constant analysis of grief”.
The 'Loose Women' panellist has suffered heartbreak over the last two decades, following the death of her 'Blue Peter' co-presenter daughter Caron Keating in April 2004 from breast cancer, and Gloria lost Stephen Way, her husband of 26 years, in August 2024 following a long illness.
But the 84-year-old TV presenter has no plans to retire anytime soon - because work is her "safe place".
She is quoted by Woman's Weekly magazine as saying: "Stephen was really quite ill for the last year and a half of his life, and if I'm at home, I could easily drift into dwelling on that and reliving it.
"That's what work is good for - it takes you away from that constant analysis of grief."
As well as being a regular on the ITV1 daytime show, Gloria has fronted BBC One factual TV programme 'Rip-Off Britain' for 16 years - currently alongside journalists Julia Somerville and Louise Minchin.
And Gloria believes the public trusts the show, because it is fronted by three women who have "lived it".
She said: "I really love it, and if it was presented by three 21 year olds, it wouldn't have the same gravitas.
"We've been around the block, and I think the public trust us because they know we've lived it as well."
The former 'Sunday Sunday' host turns 85 on April 10, and Gloria recently said she would be "so thrilled" to present a chat show in her 80s.
Gloria - who spent eight years interviewing A-list celebrities, including the late Hollywood acting icons Bette Davis and Audrey Hepburn on the show - told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "We had every Hollywood star that you can think of.
"I loved talking to people, so if somebody thought there was a chat show in an 80-something, I would be so thrilled."
