Ruth Langsford breaks down during discussion about Alzheimer’s live on Loose Women

Loose Women star Ruth Langsford broke down in tears during a discussion about Alzheimer’s on lunchtime chat show Loose Women.

The host struggled to keep it together as she described how “distraught” her mum had been when Langsford’s dad had to go into a care home.

She said: “When my dad eventually went into care, my mum was so distraught and… I’m sorry…”

The presenter trailed off, unable to finish speaking as she put her head in her hands and began to cry.

Fellow presenters Coleen Nolan, Janet Street-Porter and Nadia Sawalha offered their support to their colleague.

Nolan sympathised, replying: “I know how you feel. It was the same with my mum. I still say it’s the cruellest disease of losing your loved one.”

Langsford’s father passed away in 2012 after a battle with Alzheimer’s and her first-hand experience of the disease prompted her to become an ambassador for charity The Alzheimer’s Society.

Eventually Langsford regained her composure, commenting: “You do hope, but you know they probably won’t [recover]. I do think that’s why we do so much for the Alzheimer’s Society.

“I do believe they will find a cure eventually or they will certainly be able to slow it down […] People aren’t dying from Alzheimer’s, they are living with it,” she explained.

“I’m sorry. Sometimes it just gets me. Sometimes I can talk about my dad but sometimes I can’t. It’s thinking about my mum.”

Loose Women continues on weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV.