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ITV Loose Women: ‘I can’t believe I said that!’ – Gloria Hunniford on F-word blunder


Away from television, she raises money for the Caron Keating Foundation, in memory of her late daughter, yet still finds time to be a doting wife to her husband Stephen, 80, and loving granny “Glo” to her 10 grandchildren. On top of all this, she strongly believes sharing the screen with Rip-Off Britain co-presenters Angela Rippon, 74, and Julia Somerville, 72, is a great riposte to ageism and an advert for more mature TV presenters. Arguably, the series is Britain’s greatest showcase for the skills and talent of older female stars.

“We have all been around the block a bit, we have all lived a bit and we have suffered a bit. But we are still here to tell the tale,” laughs Gloria.

“We have more than two centuries of experience between the three of us. That means we have trustability and we have got a bit of gravitas –and that is our value.

“I mean it’s horses for courses. You wouldn’t put us on a rock music programme but, in the case of consumerism and consumer programmes, we are perfect because we have earned our stars in terms of living and working and learning. We also have a believability that not everybody has.

“The press talks about ageism party because Miriam O’Reilly was let go from Countryfile and she took them to court. But honestly, in this business you have got to be realistic. You know at the wrong end of 70, you are not going to be prime time on a Saturday night. Though having said that, I have just turned down a Saturday night show.”

Gloria’s years of experience make her the perfect co-presenter for Rip-Off Britain and its spin-off shows Rip-Off Britain: Food; and Rip-Off Britain: Holidays; as well as Food: Truth Or Scare? for the BBC.

Gloria Hunniford on Rip-Off Britain

Gloria Hunniford with Rip-Off Britain co-presenters Angela Rippon and Julia Somerville (Image: BBC images)

Since 2009, in the wake of the financial crisis, the show has carved itself a daytime TV niche. Presenters investigate claims by ordinary members of the public who feel they have been ripped-off or conned. And it makes for gripping viewing.

But having spent her career uncovering scams, it was a crushing blow when Gloria too became a victim of a banking fraud last year. “For this upcoming series, I interviewed this divorcee who had lost her life savings of more than £100,000 in an internet scam and had to take a job as a live-in carer just to have a roof over her head.

“I almost wept with her, as I too was scammed out of £120,000 when my bank, Santander, gave my money to four complete strangers. It was locked away in a savings account so there was nothing I could have done.

“It was investigated by the police and they kept saying they would get them but they never did. Luckily, I got all my money back but, as a result, I don’t trust banks at all now.”

Despite all this, Gloria remains incredibly stoic about her life, health and work, but also makes sure she looks after herself.

“I have been taking every vitamin supplement under the sun since I was 17. Frankly, if I suddenly stopped taking them, I’d worry that I’d fall apart. However I have this natural energy and a zest for what I do,” says the Northern Irish broadcaster.

“I have been in showbusiness for more than 70 years and it’s deep in my psyche that if I work hard, then I have to play hard.

“In some ways I wish I could sleep more, I only have about five hours a night but I do think: ‘Long may it last!’”

ITV show Loose Women cast

ITV show Loose Women counts Gloria Hunniford as one its presenters (Image: ITV)

A permanent part of the panel of the ITV show Loose Women – which has recently celebrated its 20th anniversary –for the past three years, she admits the stimulating debate and public reaction help fuel her interest.

Gloria reveals: “Old women will stop me in the street and behind their hand they whisper: ‘I love that Loose Women’ and when I ask why, they tell me ‘You talk about sex. We were never allowed to talk about it!’

“Which is true of course. I mean, I don’t go too far on that subject and you have to rein it in but we talk about everything and women identify with a lot of the issues.

“We have done campaigns on mental health, body issues and grief. It’s not all fluffy. But because of the show’s more casual format, people forget they are on TV and say things that they maybe ordinarily wouldn’t.

“Sometimes I even go home to Stephen and say: ‘I can’t believe I said that!’ I even accidentally said the F-word. We were having a discussion about whether offensive words like that should be banned from the dictionary. When I was growing up, I was locked out of my house by my parents if I swore!”

Gloria Hunniford with her husband Stephen Way

Gloria Hunniford with her husband Stephen Way (Image: David M. Benett/Getty)

Gloria believes working since she was eight has kept her brain agile. She lost her sister Lena to dementia in 2010, but refuses to dwell on her own mortality despite, she says, breast cancer and dementia running in her family. “I’m just not up for worrying about what is going to happen to me,” she says.

“Dementia is a huge problem these days. I signed the petition that Barbara [Windsor] and her husband Scott took to No. 10 to campaign for better dementia care.

“I really admire them for what they are doing. Barbara doesn’t socialise that much so I haven’t really seen her a lot but I talk to Scott from time to time and he has been the most incredible support.”

It is 15 years since she lost her beloved daughter, Blue Peter presenter Caron Keating, to breast cancer, aged just 41. The year after Caron’s death, Gloria took part in Strictly Come Dancing and she revealed at the time how the show helped her to smile again.

She went on to set up the Caron Keating Foundation, which gives grants to all types of cancer charities, and was awarded an OBE by the Queen in 2017.

To this day, Caron is never far from her thoughts. “I do see a lot of Caron in my grandsons. She had a wicked sense of humour and her boys, Charlie and Gabriel, are now in their twenties and are both very funny and interesting.

“I have a saying that people never die if they live on the lips of the living and that is how we keep her memory alive. I see her spirit through her sons and there is no greater legacy than that.” Gloria knows just how fragile life can be, having lost Caron and experienced the trauma of her husband suffering a mild heart attack and, later, a small stroke. “Stephen’s family have a history of heart disease. He’s lost four out of his nine siblings because of heart issues.

“His heart attack happened just after his favourite brother had died. Stephen is an emotional man and I think he was so distressed that it sparked something. Thank God he has been fine since and he is very diligent at taking his medication. He’s a year older than me but he is in fantastic shape. He does a lot of exercise and stretching and keeps himself busy all the time fixing things and gardening. I do have to tell him to sit down sometimes.”

Gloria Hunniford and Caron Keating

Gloria Hunniford with her late daughter TV presenter Caron Keating (Image: Chris Grieve)

Gloria married Stephen in 1998. Her ex-husband Don Keating, with whom she had children Caron, Paul and Michael and divorced in 1992, had died a year earlier.

“I think with second marriages you have learned a lot from the first and also from our point of view our children were grown up when we met,” she says.

“It left the two of us to do what we wanted, when we went wanted. Stephen is very impetuous, like me, and if I said to him ‘Tell you what, let’s just get a couple of tickets and go to France’, he would reply, ‘Why not?’ He is always up for an adventure.”

Naturally slim, Gloria tries to eat the right foods after a blood test in 2013 revealed she was pre-diabetic and a doctor advised a strict diet.

“I tried to cut out sugar and carbs but I still occasionally eat chocolate and croissants. But when I was told I was pre-diabetic, I was very strict with myself and dropped two stone to 8st 7lb. Now I am back up to 9st 1lb.

“But I wouldn’t want to lose that amount again. I am only 5ft 2 and feel as if I’ve been shrinking ever since. I keep the weight off by walking my dog but it’s mainly from being on the go all the time.”

If she has one major regret, it is not having had more children. “As you get older you realise just how fabulous it is to have them.

“I guess the great thing about modern day life is that you can be what you want. If you want to change gender then you can and if you don’t want to have children then you don’t have to.

“But that is what I like about still working because it helps to keep me up with modern thinking. I was always for equal opportunity but I was never a very strong ‘women’s libber’. I still want to be treated like a woman. I love a man opening a door for me. But I certainly won’t be retiring as long as I have the health and will to want to do it.”

She adds with a laugh: “As much as I love my husband, I don’t want to be at home every day.”



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