The family of Birds of a Feather star Pauline Quirke have issued an update on her condition in first TV interview since diagnosis
08:26, 17 Nov 2025Updated 08:30, 17 Nov 2025
Pauline Quirke’s family has shared an emotional update on her condition as the Birds of a Feather star continues to live with dementia.
Diagnosed in 2021, they say they remain uncertain exactly what stage of the illness the 66-year-old is at, but “she’s still funny, she’s talking, she’s happy.”
Her husband Steve Sheen and son Charlie told BBC Breakfast that they were initially in “disbelief” at her diagnosis.
Speaking out for the first time, Steve said the first warning signs emerged in November 2020, when Pauline struggled to read a script.
He said: “She started reading it and she phoned me on that day and said, ‘the words are not going in’. That’s where it started.”
Pauline Quirke was diagnosed with dementia in 2021(Image: BBC)
After medics delivered the news, Steve said, “We looked at each other and went, ‘Can’t be, it’s long Covid. Got the flu’.”
Whilst the family “don’t know” what stage Pauline is at, her son Charlie said: “That’s the problem, no one tells you,” reports the Express.
“My mum knows exactly who we are. Every time she sees all of us, she smiles, laughs, says ‘I love you’, says ‘hello’.”
Steve said, “Unfortunately, we are not in a state where we can do much about it. Just take every day and try and take the best moment out of that day you can.
Pauline Quirke(Image: Getty Images)
“It’s so gradual that for the first year, two years, you’re thinking, ah, she’s alright.
“Now, we’re three or four years in, it’s a little bit different. This is why awareness is important. We didn’t know how long it lasts or how long you have with it, or how bad it is or how quick it is.”
Charlie noted that it “progresses and changes every day” and they are “forever learning”.
Earlier this year, it emerged that the 66-year-old Pauline was stepping away from acting after battling the condition for three years.
BBC Breakfast airs everyday from 6am on BBC One and iPlayer.