A Strictly Come Dancing star has said ‘it nearly killed me’ in a candid admission as he sent a message to the NHS.
Sense and Sensibility star and Emma Thompson’s husband Greg Wise competed on the BBC dancing competition back in 2021.
Learning the art of dance from professional dancer Karen Hauer, Greg was eliminated in the fourth week in a series which was won by EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis.
Appearing on Tuesday’s (July 22) of Good Morning Britain, the 59-year-old actor discussed the lack of paid respite care in the UK.
Speaking to presenters Kate Garraway and Ed Balls, Greg opened up about taking care of his late sister Clare who passed away at the age of 52 in 2016 after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which later returned as bone cancer.
"I was a 24/7 carer for my sister, Clare, who was dying from bone cancer. I did it for three months, it nearly killed me," he said.
Using her own experience caring for her late husband Derek Draper, Kate said that it’s ‘extraordinary’ what members of the public go through.
She explained: “We know the truth is you're either going to be cared for or be a carer, everyone is at some point in their life, and actually, it's only when you're in it that the reality hits you.”
Greg continued: "A lot of studies have been done on carers. Carers start to mirror the people they've been caring for, it's called compassion fatigue or carer's fatigue.
"And of course, it's understandable, you become anxious, you become isolated, you are fearful, you can become depressed, you can start self-medicating."
Going on to say that he ‘got into a bit of a problem’ with drinking during the tough period for his family, Greg said that he was able ‘to get off it’.
Emphasising the importance of carers, Greg told Kate and Ed that the taxpayer would lose tens of billions of pounds if every living in the UK decided that were unable to do it anymore.
He said: “You find yourself in a place where you're so completely alone and unsupported. I was fantastically fortunate that I was able to drop my life for a finite period of time and go and help my sister die.
"One in ten of us in this country is a carer, we have over six million carers here unpaid… The unpaid carers are saving the public purse the entire NHS budget, and what we're asking for is for the most vulnerable of this six million to be helped."
Hundreds of carers are heading to Westminster on Tuesday to protest at the lack of paid respite care currently available to them.
