Fiona Phillips was under the harrowing belief that she has been abducted and detained against her will, as disclosed by her spouse Martin Frizell. The former GMTV presenter's condition has been on the decline since her early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis in early 2022. As she gears up to publish her poignant memoir recounting the last three years, her husband of 28 years, Martin,  aged 66, has shared that her situation is graver than many might have suspected. According to him, Fiona, aged 64, now lives solely "in the present" and finds it challenging to engage in conversation – once a hallmark of her sparkling television career.

He divulged that Fiona's memory fails her within "30 seconds or five minutes" and she has recently become convinced that he is keeping her captive while her deceased parents – who also suffered from Alzheimer's – are frantically searching for her. Martin, the ex-editor of This Morning, suggests that humouring her is the kindest approach, as contradicting her only heightens her anguish. In his forthcoming book Remember When..., he pens: "I'd like to tell you Fiona is content in the situation into which she has been forced. But that wouldn't be the truth. She isn't – she is frustrated every single day. And depressed," reports the Mirror.

He continued: "She constantly says she wants to work, but she knows deep down that she can't. She knows she cannot hold a conversation and she forgets what she wants to tell people. She will give up and crumple. She tries to fight it, but it's too hard."

Martin characterises her abduction anxieties as the "latest fixation, coming from her clogged-up brain". The family must resort to extraordinary measures to provide comfort - occasionally their youngest son Mackenzie, 23, will fetch Fiona her beloved coat whilst Martin acts out escorting her back to her parents, presumably in exchange for a ransom.

Her mother, Amy, actually died in 2006, and her father, Neville, received his diagnosis shortly afterwards and passed away in 2012.

"Fiona and I leave the house as if I am taking her home," Martin explains. "We walk around the block as she loudly proclaims, 'I'll never forgive you for tricking me,' and passers-by stare; then we are back home again, where she goes in and greets Mackenzie as if she hasn't seen him for days. She has forgotten about her mum and dad and is happy to sit down."

There remains one element that restores Fiona to her former cheerful disposition - playing The Stylistics - her beloved group from her teenage years. "Every day, several times a day, she'll say, 'Hey Google, play The Stylistics,'," Martin recounts in the new book.

"She begins to sing, word perfect and I stroke her hair as she says, 'Please don't leave me.'" Martin is resolute in his refusal to gloss over the reality and feign any sense of relief. He's noticed a decline in contact from friends and a near halt in social invitations.

Despite understanding Fiona's inability to attend dinner parties or the glamorous events they once frequented as a television power duo, he laments: "But sometimes it would be nice to be asked."

The illness is taking its toll on the entire family. The couple, who tied the knot in 1997, are parents to Mackenzie, an aspiring fashion designer, and Nathaniel, 26, who is pursuing a career in the Armed Forces.

Martin has shared the heartbreak he felt when Fiona first failed to recognise their eldest son.

He continues: "Alzheimer's is the most awful disease. The boys and I are being punished by it. But Fiona is the one having to live it every single day. And it's relentless."

Fiona was only 61 when she received her Alzheimer's diagnosis in early 2022, yet she had long feared she might succumb to the familial affliction. Both of Fiona's parents and several other relatives had been diagnosed with the condition, each affected in uniquely troubling ways.

Medical professionals clarified that while Fiona hadn't directly inherited the disease from her parents, they had transmitted certain genetic predispositions that increased her vulnerability. Consequently, Fiona and Martin initially chose to withhold the diagnosis from their sons until they could ensure the boys were not similarly at risk.