Gloria Hunniford has endured several health battles over the past few years Gloria Hunniford has faced several health obstacles over the past few years.
Loose Women panellist, who is back on screens today (January 4) on Saturday Morning James Martin, discovered she had kidney stones just before Christmas in 2022, which led to her undergoing surgery.
After the operation to burst the stones and insert a stent, a second procedure was planned to remove it three weeks later. However, Gloria, 84, started feeling sick again after the first operation.
Before the second operation, the doctors reassured her that she would feel “much better”.
There were just a few everyday ingredients the former Strictly star had to say goodbye to, as part of her new health kick: “I cut out all the sugar I could… (I gave up bread, pasta and potatoes too). ”
Taking a deeper look at what her midday looks like after starting the new eating plan, she said: I’ll have an egg or sausage for breakfast, but no bread. It’s a soup or salad with fish for lunch, and in the evening I’ll replace potatoes with cauliflower, which has the same kind of crunch.”
Gloria Hunniford
The move to a healthier lifestyle came as a result of a doctor’s warning, after the 84-year-old revealed she had been diagnosed with pre-diabetes: “My doctor said I was pre-diabetic and he told me . take my life in my hands.”
Although she now follows a very strict diet, Gloria admitted that she sometimes treats herself to “a glass of wine or champagne”.
Gloria Hunniford has spoken openly about the heartbreak of losing her daughter, Blue Peter icon Caron Keating, who died aged 41 in April 2004. Speaking to the Mirror in 2018, Gloria shared her grief: “ Losing a child is the darkest place you could ever imagine.”
She continued: “There’s something extra difficult about being pregnant, carrying that baby, giving birth, raising that baby, and then losing her. You don’t think there’s going to be PHDs or something all your children, but pray to God they will live long enough to see them live happily.”
But when she woke up from the anaesthetic, a nurse told her she was being transferred to another hospital.
She recalled: “But the next thing I knew coming out of the anaesthetic, a nurse was saying to me, ‘Don’t worry, don’t worry but we have to transfer you by ambulance to another hospital as we can. ” t raise your blood pressure’.”
Gloria described the terrifying moment she was transferred from a hospital in Maidstone, Kent, to a nearby A&E as she felt drained of all energy.
The broadcaster was later told she had suffered from kidney sepsis, a potentially fatal condition.
She explained: “Thank God it didn’t go over the kidney. I think that’s why I felt so terrible and it made me melt for a while.”
In October 2024, Gloria caused concern on Loose Women as she showed a significant amount of weight loss. She returned after a period of absence due to the tragic death of her husband, Stephen Way.
Her daughter, Blue Peter star Caron Keating, sadly died aged 41 in April 2004, and in 2018, Gloria opened up to The Mirror about the tragic loss of her daughter to breast cancer: “If you lose baby takes you to the darkest place you could ever imagine.”
With characteristic wit, Gloria joked about always being the shortest on the Loose Women set, sharing: “The thing is, of course, when your partner is ill, like the anxiety and worry and that’s all.
Gloria continued: “Of course I’ve lost weight because you don’t eat right, you’re always thinking about the other person. But I’m fine, thank you very much indeed and my two sons when they come to visit always watch what I eat.”
She finished with a comforting affirmation: “But I’m fine!”
Gloria, who has a long career in television, is probably best known for her role as a regular panellist on ITV’s Loose Women since she first appeared in 2014.
She will appear on James Martin’s Saturday Morning today at 9.30am on ITV.
