TV presenter Gloria Hunniford has opened up about how she copes with grief and her plans for the future, following the death of her husband Stephen Way in August 2024
Gloria Hunniford has given an insight into her career and personal life following the heartbreaking loss of her husband last year.
Speaking candidly on The Dr Hilary Show, the 85-year-old TV presenter revealed her future plans and how she deals with grief, explaining that it involves filling "your head quite quickly".
This comes after the sad death of her husband, Stephen Way, in August 2024 at the age of 85. Gloria also experienced another loss in 1997 when her former husband and father of her children, Don Keating, passed away.
Adding to her heartbreak, seven years later, her daughter, Caron Keating, succumbed to breast cancer in 2004. Caron, who was a former Blue Peter presenter, was only 41 at the time of her death.
During the podcast, Gloria, known for her stint on Loose Women, was asked about her future plans and if her philosophy was to "keep going". She promptly replied that she "never" intends to retire
After receiving some kind words from the host, Gloria responded: "Well, that's very kind of you to say that, but I do it for me as well because you take grief, with grief, I think you have to fill your head quite quickly.
"And it's not that you get over the grief, or don't suffer the grief, but after Stephen passed, I put my... indeed, after Caron died, I put myself back to work, I think, reasonably quickly.
"Not immediately, of course, but reasonably quickly because work, and it wouldn't be everybody's choice and some people wouldn't understand it, work is my safe place because I know where I am."
She further mentioned that there is a "structure" to her work, a sense of knowing what she's "supposed to be doing". Gloria also reflected on how, even if work occupies her mind for just an hour or half an hour, it effectively displaces a "lot of the bad thoughts".
This sentiment follows Gloria's recent revelation that despite enjoying quality time with her two sons and four grandsons, particularly at their family holiday home in France, she doesn't envisage retirement as part of her immediate future, even after suggestions from them to spend more downtime abroad.
Attributing her perspective to her mother's wisdom, she recounted a memory from her childhood during an interaction with Woman's Weekly: "I remember when I was nine, reading a book and my mother saying, 'Go off and do something - you've got years ahead of you to sit in a chair and read books'."
