It's so gradual that at first you just think, 'No, she's all right..

Pauline Quirke's hubby speaks out to raise awareness of dementia

- LAUREN MORRIS

PAULINE Quirke's husband initially thought she was suffering from long Covid and could not believe that she had dementia.

Steve Sheen said this year the Birds of a Feather star, 66, who was diagnosed in 2021, would step back from commercial and professional duties to spend more time with her family.

Now, speaking about her condition for the first time, Steve said: “Around November 2020, a script came in, she started reading it and she phoned me on that day and said: ‘The words aren't going in. That's where it started.

“We thought, can't be, it’s long Covid, you've got the flu. It’s so gradual that for the first year, two years, you're thinking, no she's all right. Now, three or four years in, it’s a little bit different.”

CAUSE