John Stapleton is 'learning to live' with Parkinson's disease: 'You can't escape these things'

4 November 2024

John Stapleton is "learning to live" with Parkinson's disease.

TV veteran John Stapleton revealed his diagnosis in October

The 78-year-old presenter - who is best known for having fronted breakfast television shows like 'GMTV' and 'Daybreak' in the 1990s and 2000s - recently revealed he had been diagnosed with the progressive brain disorder that affects movement, mental health, and other areas of the body, but had accepted that some sort of issue was "inevitable" given his age.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "You can’t escape these things as you grow older, these kinds of developments are sort of inevitable. You learn to live with it, get on with it and try to be as positive as you can."

The former 'Watchdog' host - who was married to Lynn Faulds Wood from 1977 until her death in 2020 and has son Nick, 37, with her - went public with his diagnosis in October and recently explained that it was his son's idea announce it, but doesn't consider himself "brave" in doing so.

Speaking on ITV's 'Good Morning Britain', he said: "We’ve had hundreds and hun­­dreds of emails and messages. Very ­heartwarming, very encouraging. I think it proves that everyone knows someone who’s got it. There’s massive interest in the subject. It was Nick’s idea [to publicise it]. He wanted to make a little film about role reversal. As a parent, you spend your life looking after your kids. But there comes the time when your kids look after you and [there are] difficult questions you ask about the future.

"Someone said to me the other day, ‘You’re very brave to do that’. I don’t consider it brave at all. Someone in my position almost considers it a duty to keep people informed and get people talking about it. I’ve been a patron of Parkinson’s UK for a long time, as my mum suffered from it."