Broadcaster Alastair Stewart, 73, grew up in Hampshire, where he still lives. The longest-serving male newscaster in Britain, during 40 years at ITV he presented News at Ten, covered the fall of the Berlin Wall, royal weddings and the Iraq war. He moved to GB News in 2021, but stepped down when he was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2023. He met his wife of 47 years, Sally Ann Jung, at Southern Television. They have four children, two grandchildren and lots of rescue animals.
I’ve given the assisted dying bill a great deal of thought. Not because of my dementia. We know Esther Rantzen [who campaigns for assisted dying]; our children were at school together. It’s a hugely difficult problem. I’m a Roman Catholic so it makes it doubly tricky.
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It’s very demeaning that I can’t even do up my bloody shoelaces any more. At first I was turning up at the GB News studios far too early and making silly mistakes. Then I couldn’t set an analogue clock or do up my belt. There was a general sense of discombobulation.
Too many people nowadays are appointed or promoted because of the diversity “woke” agenda, rather than on merit. Make sure you’re appointing them because they’re good at the job, not simply because they are female, black, gay or disabled.
When I was done for drink-driving [in 2003], it was a clear shot across the bows that I was drinking too much. I don’t think I was an alcoholic. I never woke up thinking, where’s the first drink coming from? Giving up drinking and smoking has saved a huge amount of money, so it’s a win-win.
Stewart with the Queen at Buckingham Palace last year
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I don’t think the BBC handled the Huw Edwards situation brilliantly. They still aren’t. [The former broadcaster admitted making indecent images of children.] He wasn’t a friend. I’m not just saying that because of what he got up to. I thought it was tragic for the victim and the family.
I dismissed Nigel Farage as a one-trick pony who only talked about Europe and Brexit. I had the honour of getting to know him at GB News. He’s a very able, very intelligent man. He has the common touch — Churchill had it, Thatcher had it. When people say, “The only thing Farage will do is keep Labour in for ever,” I’m not sure they’re right.
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My short-term memory is hopeless. Where did I put my credit card? They say if you think you’ve been scammed, change your passwords. But if you’ve got dementia, changing your password can be very complicated, so it makes you more vulnerable. I have to be extremely careful.
If you wanted to get in with the “in-crowd” at ITN, you had to go to the bar straight after News at Ten. And not just have one to steady you before you went home, but drink and drink. Alastair Burnet [the former News at Ten anchor] drank very heavily from dawn to dusk. I think it contributed to his death. I remember saying to a woman in the PR department, “I’m worried about developing a drink problem.” She said, “I don’t think you have. I think ITN’s got a corporate drink problem.” She was right. It hasn’t now, because the new building doesn’t have a bar.
Moderating the first televised general election leaders’ debate in 2010, featuring Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg
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My wife was then, and still is, a stunningly attractive woman. But she was also very good at what she did. That appealed to me because I was on a learning curve and she was kind enough to show me how to take a count in my ear, and which camera to look at.
If you think you or someone you love has dementia, don’t bottle it up. Don’t try to put on a brave face. Go and talk to someone. Just because you forget somebody’s birthday, it doesn’t mean you’ve got dementia. But if there is a series of odd things, then you may have it.
A portrait from 1992. “If I get down in the dumps, I look at our ducks or walk across the fields”
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The best BBC newsreaders are women. Sophie Raworth is arguably the best newsreader in the business at the moment.
If I get down in the dumps, I look at our ducks or walk across the fields. We have horses, donkeys and chickens. Walking among them helps me. I always come back feeling better.
You can’t prescribe grandchildren, but they are the best medicine I have for dementia. You look at these lovely little puking children and think, there’s a bit of me in that. They boost my spirits and give me something tangible to live for.
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