Loose Women icon Gloria Hunniford has recalled the moment she sparked panic that she was dead when she fell asleep in her car.
The 83-year-old broadcasting legend caused alarm when she drove her husband to the shops and then fell asleep while sat at the wheel of her parked car.
Gloria was on the panel of Loose Women on Monday when the ladies were discussing incidents where people had fallen asleep while riding transport.
And she said she was amused when a group of people came unnecessarily running to her aid when they noticed her sitting with her head down and seemingly motionless.
She told the panel: “Two days ago, I’m doing the driving at the minute because my husband has got a bit of an eye problem.
“And he’s in the shop, shopping, while I’m sitting in the air conditioning in the car with the dog, looking after it.
“The next thing I knew, honestly, there was pounding – four people pounding on the window saying ‘Are you alight? Are you alight?!’ They thought I’d snuffed it.”
Her story sparked laughs from her fellow panelists and the live studio audience – and Gloria went on to explain she was left feeling very old by the incident. She recalled: “Poor old biddy, 101, drove to the shop… and then what made me laugh, actually, was there was a car sitting beside me and the window was open and the lady said to me; ‘Gloria! You fell asleep!’ as if I was 101 and didn’t realise.”
Gloria explained that she could understand why people thought she was dead – and she is grateful members of the public decided to check on her.
She said: “My husband was coming at me from a distance with the shopping and I asked him ‘Was I lying back with my mouth wide open?’ And he said ‘No, you were sitting like this.’ [Drops head down]. No wonder they thought I was dead.”
She added: “Thank you to those people who actually woke me up. It very good when people think you are in trouble and they ask if you are alright.”
It wasn’t the only awkward sleeping moment Gloria shared as she also cast her mind back to a flight she took where she passed out on a fellow passenger.
She recalled: “I used to travel a lot between London and Norther Ireland and I was only told this afterward, literally five minutes after take off, I apparently just slid like this onto a man’s shoulder and then he had to wake me up on touchdown. He said ‘I’m so sorry to disturb you, but we’ve landed’.”
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