Presenters reduced to tears by widower’s story

SKY SPORTS presenter Simon Thomas reduced Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield to tears as he spoke on about the death of his wife.

Thomas’s wife Gemma died in November, three days after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.

Appearing on the ITV morning programme, he spoke about the moment he told his eightyear-old son Ethan that his mother had died.

He said: “My heart was pounding. He (Ethan) went in to see her twice that day. I didn’t tell Ethan she was going.

“I just said, ‘Mummy is seriously ill’, and I held him to her ear a couple of times and he said he loved her and (then) he went to play with his cousins.

“And I got home, and I thought I’ve just got to grab him, so I took him upstairs, and I looked into his deep brown eyes and said, ‘Ethan, I’m really sorry, they couldn’t make mummy better’.

“You can’t dress it up. I just said, ‘Mummy’s died’, and he collapsed on to the floor. I collapsed with him. I just held him. I would never wish that on my worst enemy.”

During the emotional interview, the presenters were unable to hold back their tears and Schofield reached forward to grab a tissue for Willoughby. Former presenter Thomas, pictured with his late wife, told how quickly the illness had materialised. His wife had headaches for a few weeks and then after ‘fluey’ symptoms, she spent the weekend in bed and was admitted to hospital on the Monday.