'Not okay now': Lesley Joseph offers update on Pauline Quirke
Pauline Quirke is "not okay now" amid her dementia battle, her friend Lesley Joseph has revealed.
Pauline Quirke is "not okay now" amid her dementia battle.
The 65-year-old actress' husband Steve Sheen revealed earlier this year that she has been diagnosed with the irreversable condition - which causes a decline in thinking, memory, and reasoning skills - in 2021 and her Birds of a Feather co-star Lesley Joseph has now offered an update on her friend.
She told Bella magazine: “Pauline is not too well after being diagnosed with dementia a while ago.
“She’s not okay now. I haven’t had time, but I’m going to go up and see her next week.”
While Lesley hasn't seen Pauline recently, she has dinner with the third Birds of a Feather lead, Linda Robson, 67, regularly and is looking forward to celebrating her recent 80th birthday with her pal.
She said: "We'll go out and celebrate.
"Linda and I have lunch together every few weeks. We always go to the same place, same table."
Linda previously admitted Pauline "doesn't know" who she is anymore and she finds witnessing her childhood friend's decline "very sad".
She told The Sun newspaper: “It’s very sad. We’ve been best friends since we were ten. I’ve known [about the diagnosis] for three years and we've managed to keep it quiet.
“She doesn’t know who anybody is.
“She doesn’t know who I am or who her kids are. Dementia is terrible - I’d rather get cancer, because at least then you’ve got a chance...
"It does [hit you hard], I think about her all the time.
"She's not the Pauline that I knew growing up. She's got a good support around her, that's the main thing."
The Loose Women star - whose mum also had dementia - has only seen Pauline on FaceTime but hopes to see her in person soon.
She said: "Hopefully I'm going to go and see her soon.
"When she sees me, she smiles. But after a couple of minutes it's gone.
"I just want to be there for her, it would be really nice to spend some time with her and look after her because we looked after each other all them years."
The actress admitted people had begun to realise things weren't "right" with Pauline before Steve made her diagnosis public.
She said: "It's been going on for three years and I've known for three years but never told anybody.
"When she was meeting people, they were then beginning to realise that something wasn't right."
