Ruth Langsford breaks silence on support from son Jack after ‘really hard’ family ordeal

Ruth Langsford shared how proud she is of her son, Jack

Former This Morning presenter Ruth Langsford, 65, has praised her and Eamonn Holmes’ 23-year-old son Jack for his maturity during a tough ordeal for their family.

The Loose Women star revealed in an exclusive interview that Jack frequently accompanies her to visit her 94-year-old mum, Joan, who lives in a care home, and “just deals with it” when his grandmother “says the same thing over and over again” due to her Alzheimer’s battle.

According to the NHS website, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in the UK. Dementia is the name for symptoms associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning, which can affect memory, thinking skills and other mental abilities.

Discussing her collaboration with Amazon and UK charity Dementia Carers Count, Ruth shared: “He goes to see my mum. I have to kind of remind her who he is, so I say, ‘oh Mum, Jack’s home tomorrow, and he’s going to come in on Sunday with me’. And she goes, ‘Oh yes, lovely’.

“But I know she will have forgotten that the minute I leave. So when we do go in, I do the kind of, ‘Oh, look who’s here mum, it’s your grandson, Jack’.

“And she sort of looks at him, and he goes, ‘Hello, Grandma’, and then it’s like, her brain goes, ‘Oh yes it’s him’, and she always goes, ‘oh my goodness, you’re so tall’ – he’s been that tall for like, seven years – but it’s lovely.”

Ruth and ex Eamonn alongside the couple’s son Jack(Image: Getty Images)

Jack previously spent time with Ruth’s late dad Dennis, who was also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, but he was too young at the time to fully understand his grandfather’s behaviour.

She recalled: “I would take him to see my dad during his Alzheimer’s, when he was in a care home, and Jack just dealt with it, you know. And that’s challenging, because there are people with challenging behaviours in care homes with dementia.”

Ruth added: “My dad became quite childlike, so he was sitting there blowing a raspberry at Jack – Jack thought it was hilarious. I wanted to include him. But I tried to manage it so that he wasn’t frightened, or if somebody was having a challenging moment, should we say, I would kind of remove him, and didn’t want him to be frightened.

“But I really wanted him to be part of my dad’s life. And, you know, life is not perfect. People have challenging things that happen. The fact that he comes to see my mum now and she says the same thing over and over again, and Jack just deals with it – he’s great.”

Ruth went on to admit that “it is really hard” to explain Alzheimer’s symptoms to young children, revealing how she told Jack when he was little that “grandad has got this thing, and it does mean that he’ll say the same thing sometimes. You have to be kind, and you have to pretend he hasn’t said that same thing to you five times”.

Ruth pictured with her beloved mother, Joan(Image: ruthlangsford/Instagram)

She went on to explain: “So it was, kind of, training him. But then I hope because of that… this is where awareness is so important, because if we don’t talk about it, people don’t know what to expect. They go, ‘what’s gonna happen’?”

Ruth, who separated from Jack’s dad Eamonn last year, has been caring for her mum with the assistance of her Amazon Alexa, on which she can set reminders for Joan’s appointments.

The TV favourite said: “I’m a very busy person and we know a lot of carers have jobs, maybe have children, and they have a parent or loved one who needs help, and it’s a lot of plate spinning, and it’s a lot of responsibility, and you forget things.

“So if something pops into my head, I think, ‘gosh, I must remember to book a dental appointment for my mum,’ I can just say it out loud – ‘Alexa, remind me to book a dentist appointment for mum, Alexa, please add shower gel and toothpaste to my shopping list for mum’, and it’s just done, and I know it’s done.”