Anneka Rice admits she thought about suffocating her dad ‘out of love’ as he struggled with Alzheimer’s

Ukraine Unplugged In Aid Of Polish / Ukrainian Appeal and Choose Love
Anneka Rice at a Ukraine fundraising event at London’s White Eagle Club in April 2022
Dave Benett/Getty Images
Jill Lupupa12 August 2022
The Weekender

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TV presenter Anneka Rice revealed that she almost killed her dad during his battle with Alzheimer’s in the hospital out of love for him.

The 63-year-old, known for hosting Treasure Hunt and Celebrity Hunted, witnessed her father suffering from dementia in his 90s.

Rice’s dad developed Alzheimer’s in 2005, with her mother, Penny, developing the same symptoms just a week after his death.

The broadcaster opened up to BBC Radio 4 listeners on her Anneka Has Issues show: “He was dazed and confused and it broke my heart.

Anneka Rice besides Jeremy Vine to the right, Jo Whiley and Chris Evans to the left at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Alex Lentati

“I’d visit every day, a three-hour round trip, and I remember vividly looking at my dad, usually so dapper, and now so broken in that hospital bed.”

She continued: “And I looked and I looked, deep into my soul, and I looked at the pillow and I took one of his pillows. And I looked round the ward and I held the pillow up. And I wanted so much to help him on his way – as all our elderly parents say to us ‘please don’t let me linger in pain’.

“But when the time comes it’s almost impossible to do the deed. Murder I don’t think is naturally in our DNA.”

Rice went on to say she went to confide in forensic anthropologist Dame Sue Black.

Dame Sue said: “The one thing that connects what you wanted to do, which sounds like such a vicious act to most, is that it was through love.”

Rice echoed that the action crossed her mind out of “deep love” for her father.

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