It wasn’t scripted. It wasn’t polished. In a rare moment of vulnerability, she opened up about the guilt she’s been carrying — the kind that doesn’t show on camera, but never leaves off-screen. And as she spoke, the studio fell quiet. This wasn’t just another segment. It was something deeper. Something real

This Morning presenter Sian Welby appeared on Loose Women as she admitted the “guilt” over her dad’s dementia diagnosis.

Sian Welby officially joined This Morning as a co-host in January 2024, debuting alongside Dermot O’Leary. This summer she was part of the presenter line-up as Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard took a break.

Discussing that they didn’t notice the signs straight away, Sian added: “My dad is in his 80s, he’s an old dad, so you just claim it’s old age. It’s awful.

“You feel guilty afterwards because they drive you a bit mad for a while. You’re like, ‘Dad I told you’ or your mum’s going, ‘Ian, I told you this morning’.

“You feel like they’re not listening.” Ruth then shared her own experience with her dad who had dementia, as she replied: “I remember saying to my dad once, ‘are you going mad?’ and when I realised, I just… I can’t believe I said that.”

Sian continued: “With my dad, it got to the point where it was bigger things. So not just like losing the keys, but forgetting the way to his mum’s house, a journey he’s done a million times.

“When you notice out of character things, where you go, ‘well they definitely knew that’, that’s a bit weird.”

Opening up about how she tries to help her dad, Sian added: “It’s actually such a minefield, and I’m no expert. I’m going off what I’ve had to do and I think because my dad is older and I’m younger, it’s almost like in the same way that you might have with a grandparent, with our age difference.

“Sometimes it’s going along with the conversation because that’s better than confusing him. I think the key thing is, there’s a lot of shame and embarrassment attached to it. My dad is aware that he’s gotten something wrong.”

She went onto say: “Music is massive. Music, it seems to be across the border connection that is so powerful for people with dementia or Alzheimer’s because it takes them back to a time when they can remember, because all the long term memories are there.”