Ruth Langsford admits 'I got really jealous' as she shares 'great sadness' for son Jack

Loose Women presenter Ruth Langsford, 65, has confessed she "used to get really jealous" witnessing the bond between grandfathers and their grandchildren while her son Jack was growing up.

The former This Morning star, who shares Jack, 23, with her estranged husband Eamonn Holmes, 65, explained how her son never got the chance to know her beloved dad, Dennis, before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

In an exclusive interview to discuss her collaboration with Amazon and UK charity Dementia Carers Count, Ruth shared her heartbreak over Jack missing out on quality time with her late dad, who could have taught him so many life skills before his health struggles took hold.

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Ruth, whose 94-year-old mum Joan is also battling Alzheimer's, shared: "I feel a great sadness, really, not so much about my mum, because my mum didn't have Alzheimer's [for all of Jack's life], but Jack never knew my dad without Alzheimer's, because I didn’t have Jack until I was in my 40s.

"My dad was just, like, the best man, and he would have taken Jack fishing, and gone sailing with him, and showed him woodwork and all those things that he loved to do.

"And yeah, Jack never really met him like that, he had Alzheimer's from the moment Jack knew him, really. And it was tricky sometimes when my dad was around, because I was very conscious of, is dad alright?

"And he couldn't quite grasp that a two-year-old makes noise, you know, drops their toys and stuff, and he couldn't cope very well with noise. So it's quite tricky, but it was more of a sadness."

Ruth was hit with the emotional realisation once again when she attended her father's wake with Jack, and he didn't recognise his own grandfather's picture in photo boards created to commemorate Dennis' life at the ceremony.

She recalled: "Actually, when my dad died, at his wake, my sister and I had done all these big photo boards of photographs of my dad from when he was a baby, right through his life, and when he was in the army, he was in the motorbike team.

"And I've got these amazing pictures of my dad on a motorbike coming over the top of the hill, and Jack said to me, 'who's that?' And I went, ‘that’s grandad!' So he’d never seen that side of my dad.

"Sometimes, you know, I'd be in the park or something, and I'd see grandads with grandchildren and I used to get really jealous and sad for Jack. I mean, he knew my dad, but not in the way that I would have liked him to.

"But that is life, it deals you these hands sometimes and you just deal with them, don't you? I would take him to see my dad during his Alzheimer's, when he was in a care home, and Jack just dealt with it, you know."

Ruth's mum is also in a care home due to her Alzheimer's diagnosis, with the star admitting that her health issues are "always in the back of my mind", but the presenter has benefitted from the assistance provided by her Amazon Alexa, on which she can set reminders for her mum's medical and dental appointments.

Further functionalities and an in-depth guide can be found on www.dementiacarers.org.uk/amazonalexa.