Talent show judge and music manager Louis Walsh has spoken about the heart break of watching a family member suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.
The X factor star revealed that his 84-year-old mother Maureen has the disease and that she no longer recognises him.
Maureen is still in good health physically and because of the memory loss caused by the Alzheimer’s, she isn’t actually suffering.
Walsh said: “My mum has got Alzheimer’s now. She doesn’t know me. But she’s fine, healthy and happy, and doesn’t know any better.”
In 2007, Walsh famously invited his mother to a recording of X Factor where she left him red faced by revealing that his real name was Michael Vincent.
She said that he had changed it because he wanted to sound more ‘Showbiz’.
The 63-year-old Co Mayo star recently talked about his upbringing.
He told Woman Magazine: “I’m the second oldest of nine kids and grew up in a good Catholic family. We didn’t have a lot of money but didn’t know any better and were happy.
“My parents let me go into the music industry eventually but they sent me to school and college first. But I was no good and I hated it.
“I didn’t fit in, I was too crazy and giddy. I think they thought I’d get a normal job but then they knew I was slightly different.”
He went on to manage two of Ireland’s most successful ever boybands – Boyzone and Westlife.
He revealed that his mother wasn’t interested in the acts that he mentored on the X Factor, but did like one of his most famous bands.
He continued: “Your health is your wealth, she’d say. And she still says the same. These days, she isn’t too bothered about X Factor. But she asks about Daniel O’Donnell.
“She thinks Nathan Carter is a nice guy and is always asking when Westlife are getting back together.”
Louis Walsh reveals his heartbreak of his mother's Alzheimer’s