Entertainment · Celebrity · 48 mins ago
John Suchet says caring for his wife with dementia became overwhelming
John Suchet, a longtime British TV news presenter, says his wife Bonnie was diagnosed with dementia in 2006.
He was starting a job at Channel 5 when he learned she would need increasing care.
Suchet tried to keep working while looking after her, but says the demands became overwhelming.
In 2009, he made the difficult decision to place Bonnie in a care home, and says he still feels guilty about it.
Bonnie had attended a television awards event with him, but it was her last public outing.
Suchet later fell in love with Nula Black, who was also facing a difficult situation, and they married in 2016.
John Suchet says caring for his wife Bonnie, who had dementia, became overwhelming.
He continued presenting on television for two years after her diagnosis before deciding she needed residential care.
In 2009, he placed Bonnie in a care home, a decision that left him feeling guilty.
Suchet later fell in love with Nula Black, whom he married in 2016.
- Who
- John Suchet and his wife, Bonnie.
- What
- Suchet says caring for Bonnie as her dementia progressed became overwhelming, and he placed her in a care home.
- When
- Bonnie was diagnosed two weeks before Suchet began a job at Channel 5; he placed her in a care home in 2009.
- Where
- Not stated
- Why
- Bonnie’s dementia meant she needed increasing care and could no longer be left alone. Suchet said caring for her became too much.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Suchet received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal Television Society.
Suchet made the decision to place Bonnie in a care home.
Suchet wrote a memoir describing his feelings on the night he submitted papers to place Bonnie in a care home.
Suchet and Nula Black married.
- Age
- Suchet was 82 at the time of the article.
- Diagnosis
- Bonnie was diagnosed with dementia two weeks before Suchet’s first day at Channel 5.
- Care home
- Suchet placed Bonnie in a care home in 2009.
- Award
- Royal Television Society Lifetime Achievement Award, 2008.
- Marriage
- John Suchet and Nula Black married in 2016.
What people are saying
I remember going to see the editor and saying I was going to have to pull out.
How thoroughly professional I looked,
I sat watching myself as if I were looking at some entirely different creature.