THE GLORIA DAYS: ‘I'M NEVER AFRAID OF A CHALLENGE'

AFTER BEING REVEALED AS SNOW LEOPARD ON THE MASKED SINGER TV PRESENTER GLORIA HUNNIFORD TALKS US THROUGH HER TRAILBLAZING SEVEN-DECADE CAREER AND LOVE FOR DAUGHTER CARON

- SAMUEL McMANUS-MAXWELL

She has been a showbiz staple for more than 70 years, but Gloria Hunniford still managed to shock the nation this month when she was unveiled as the glamorous Snow Leopard on ITV’s The Masked Singer.

“It took me all of 10 seconds to say yes,” she tells us as we catch up after the big reveal.

Her Masked Singer performance is the start of another busy year for Gloria, who used to sing on stage with her magician father when she was seven, with more presenting on Loose Women and Rip Off Britain. But 2022 will also bring some sadness, as Gloria’s daughter Caron Keating – who died from breast cancer aged 41 in 2004 – would have turned 60 in October.

The 81-year-old tearfully said, “[Losing a child is] the worst kind of death you can suffer. When you are pregnant, you carry that baby for nine months. It doesn’t matter what age that baby loses his or her life, there’s something about the physical part of giving birth that gives you a deeper loss. It can never go away, you just have to learn to live with it.

“I felt it a privilege to be with her at birth and at the end as well.”

Here, Gloria reminisces on her career and tells us how she thinks of Caron every day...

Hi Gloria! Do you have a busy year ahead?