Tony Christie on dementia diagnosis
Tony Christie explained to This Morning hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield how he went for a check-up at the doctor’s after he began struggling with one of his hobbies.
Tony opened up about his dementia diagnosis as he explained: “One of my big things, for donkey’s years, 50 years [has been] crosswords. Cryptic crosswords, that was my big hobby.
“Then suddenly I’m getting problems with doing it and I said to my wife ‘What’s wrong are they making it more difficult for me or is it me?’ so she said ‘Let’s go and see a specialist’.
“This lady, the specialist, did an x-ray and everything and she said ‘You’ve got the early stages of dementia’ and I said I’m not bothered about it, not affecting me apart from the crosswords.”
When discussing how it has affected him, Tony also explained he can remember a lot of things except when it comes to people’s names.
He also touched on how when he was first diagnosed he didn’t want to tell anybody over fears of the stigma surrounding it.
However, it was his wife Sue who encouraged him to speak out about his diagnosis, leaving people across the nation inspired by his story.
Despite his diagnosis, Tony is still working hard and revealed to Holly and Phillip that he was working on releasing two albums, and embarking on another tour to celebrate his 80th birthday.
Back in January, he told ITV News: “I can’t wait. It’s very long days, we’re going to do two albums in a week, 24 songs, maybe a few more.
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“The tour is going to be a long, long tour and I’m really looking forward to it because I’m a different person on stage. It makes me feel great.”
He is also set to release a new track as a thank you to carers across the UK, being announced in July to coincide with Thank You Day.
The event began during the Covid-19 pandemic and particularly recognised the efforts of NHS staff and carers.
Tony previously spoke out about his diagnosis on BBC Breakfast and explained: “I ignored it. I just said carry on – and I just did carry on, and worked.
“The main thing was, and why I’ve come out about it, is a lot of people I’ve met and who have got it, they’re worried about it.
“And I’m not worried about it. I went to specialists and they gave me tablets and they’ve gradually worked.”
Sue also joined him on the sofa and added: “We are thinking positive. I still meet people I’ve known for donkey’s years, the only thing is I forget their names.”
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.
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