Deidre Sanders was left fighting back tears as she made her first appearance of the year on This Morning. The show's agony aunt appeared live via video link on Tuesday's show (January 3) as hosts Josie Gibson and Andi Peters congratulated her on her nod in the King's New Years Honours.
Deidre has been awarded an MBE for services to charity and mental health in the first round of honours under the new monarch. More than 1,100 people across the country have been recognised for their contributions to society, community or their area of work including politicians, actors, sportspeople, and community heroes.
But Deidre's honour was bittersweet as she discovered she'd been awarded an MBE just days before her husband of 55 years, Rick, passed away.
Rick was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and COPD (lung disease) nearly ten years ago, and Deidre had been his carer since just before the first lockdown.
Kicking off the first This Morning of 2023, hosts Josie and Andi, who are still filling in for Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, chatted about their own festive period before teasing what was coming up on today's show. They were then joined on the show's famous sofa by Vanessa Feltz and Tom Swarbrick for the latest 'This Morning's View' segment.
They started by looked at the New Year's Honours 2023 list as they celebrated This Morning family member Deidre. "You must be so thrilled, congratulations," Josie said as Deidre appeared on screen from her home in Cambridgeshire. "I am really, really thrilled," she replied. "I love the work I do, I love helping the viewers at This Morning - it's not just because I can - and I loved all my years at The Sun.
"That's absolutely great but it is lovely of somebody, especially the King, to give you a tick an says 'well done!'". Andi then asked how she found out about her inclusion in the prestigious list to which she revealed she got a phone call due to an email blunder.
"Normally I think you just get an email but I think they got in a muddle with my email address so somebody actually phoned," Deidre said before she started to get choked up. "The special thing for me was, as a lot of you know, my husband died just before Christmas on December 16 but this call came through just a week before he died. So that was so special for me.
"I went and got the email and I could share with him what happened. I was with Rick for 55 years and it was really great. He was always a great tease so he had to get in a few digs first but he did, the next day, tell my daughter and tell me just how proud he was so that made it extra, extra special."
After being sent condolences by the show's hosts, Deidre added: "It was lovely that we could share that. If he had died before I got that news it would have always just been a rather bittersweet thing so it was lovely we could share that."
Vanessa also interjected: "Deidre, first of all, deepest condolences, but also everybody should realise that one of the reasons you have been awarded this incredible award is in recognition of the fact people didn't really understand mental health. They didn't realise what a deal it was and how people would suffer and Deidre is one of the people in this country who increased awareness, understanding and compassion. She's really done us all the most incredible service so it's so well deserved."
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