Good Morning Britain host Sean Fletcher admits he ‘struggled to keep his head above water’ after son Reuben’s battle with OCD ‘almost tore our family apart’

Entertainment
By Henry
Good Morning Britain presenter Sean Fletcher says he struggled to cope with the demands of his job while his son struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Good Morning Britain presenter Sean Fletcher says he struggled to cope with the demands of his job while his son struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The TV presenter is known to millions as the genial co-host of the ITV breakfast show, but he admits his genial approach has been compromised by son Reuben’s condition and the impact it has had on their personal lives.

Talking to MirrorIn r’s Mind In Men spin-off podcast, Fletcher, 49, reveals he “struggling to keep his head above water” on Good Morning Britain after the 20-year-old was diagnosed in 2014.

“The OCD was telling him he shouldn’t do this or something bad would happen,” he recalls, admitting that Reuben was suspended from school for a year because of his struggle with the condition.

“It was really hard for me… it’s really hard, you’re just tired all the time. It’s a little like when you have a newborn, you can deal with problems while you sleep, but when you’re awake, the smallest things become big.”

Good Morning Britain presenter Sean Fletcher says he struggled to cope with the demands of his job while his son struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Good Morning Britain presenter Sean Fletcher says he struggled to cope with the demands of his job while his son struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The TV presenter is known to millions as the genial co-host of the ITV breakfast show, but he admits his genial approach has been compromised by son Reuben's condition.

The TV presenter is known to millions as the genial co-host of the ITV breakfast show, but he admits his genial approach has been compromised by son Reuben’s condition.

What is obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, commonly known as OCD, is a common mental illness that causes people to obsess over thoughts and develop behaviors that they struggle to control.

It can affect anyone at any age, but usually develops at a young age.

This can cause people to have repetitive, unwanted or unpleasant thoughts.

People may also develop compulsive behavior—a physical action or something mental—that they do over and over again in an attempt to get rid of obsessive thoughts.

The condition can be controlled, and treatment usually includes psychological therapy or medication.

It is not known why OCD occurs, but risk factors include a family history of the condition, certain differences in brain chemicals, or major life events such as the birth of a child or bereavement.

People who are naturally neat, methodical, or anxious are also more likely to develop this condition.

Source: National Health Service

He added: “I look back and think I’m doing a lot better now. I don’t have the same struggles that we had at home. At the time, I was just struggling and just trying to keep my head above water.”

Despite his dismay, Fletcher refused to discuss his domestic problems with his co-hosts, choosing instead to keep them private.

“Immediately I just went into ‘Don’t talk about it, don’t talk about it, don’t talk about it,’” he added. “And I haven’t done that for a long time. I probably didn’t consider the TV studio a safe place.

“To be honest, I didn’t feel like there was anywhere safe to talk about this other than television.”

Reuben, the eldest of Fletcher’s two children with wife Luned Tonderai, has since gone to university after learning to cope with his OCD, but the presenter is still reflecting on its impact.

“It was like OCD had torn our family apart,” he said. “It was like a little gremlin sitting on the mantelpiece causing controversy…complicating things.”

Fletcher previously admitted that a conversation with colleague Kate Garraway helped him understand the importance of family.

Speaking to MailOnline in 2020, he admitted that “nothing mattered anymore” when the family was thrown into crisis after Kate’s husband Derek Draper contracted COVID-19 and was taken to hospital where he was placed in an induced coma.

He said: “I remember going out in the summer and seeing Kate for the first time and we got chatting, this was before it aired.

“I was reading the news that day so I probably went out a little earlier than she did, so she was getting her makeup done and I was ready to go and we were just chatting.

“We kind of talked about how you can move on with your life, doing different things, and a lot of things seem really important, and then something will happen.

“For me, I was talking to her about my son and it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, nothing else matters,’ and of course about her and Derek.

“Suddenly something happens and all those things that you thought were absolutely important are just not important, and you know, we haven’t had a moment where we haven’t hugged or anything, but I I just thought there was a moment of just ”Oh yeah.”’

He added: “My wife isn’t in a coma or anything, but I have a moment of, ‘Oh yeah, these things that I was really worried about just don’t matter,’ and it’s the same thing, tying that with bowel cancer or any other type of cancer. cancer.

“You do all sorts of things in life and then all of a sudden you get this diagnosis and nothing else really matters, in fact, you know, you’re holding on as best you can, or someone you know is holding on as best they can. strength ‘

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