Alison Steadman was "assigned the job of telling" her late mother her cancer was terminal.
The 73-year-old actress – who plays Pam Shipman in ‘Gavin and Stacey’ – has opened up about the death of her mother 24 years after she passed away.
Her mother, Majorie, was cared for at the Marie Curie Hospice in Liverpool when she suddenly fell ill.
However, Alison revealed she was the one who had to break the news to her mum that she would soon die.
Speaking on the Marie Curie podcast ‘On the Marie Curie Couch’, Alison said: "I was assigned the job of telling my Mum [that her cancer was terminal]. When we came home [from the hospital], I immediately lost my voice and started to cry. I pretended I needed the toilet quickly and I dashed upstairs and got myself together. My Mum just looked at me and her first words were, ‘Any hopes?’ That phrase devastated me."
At the time, Alison was unable to face the awful truth and tried to remain positive for her beloved mum.
She added: "Mum said to me, ‘Do you think I’ll still be here by Christmas?’ This was about the end of November. I said, ‘Of course you will, I’ve just bought you a new black skirt, a new jumper, a pair of slacks. Of course you’ll be here.’ It was my way of not being able to face it."
The national treasure still grieves for her late mother and remains in shock of her sudden passing as she believed it was something "that could be put right".
She added: "She died quite a long time ago, however, I still carry the pain of that with me. I can deal with it but it still makes me incredibly sad. It was such a shock because although she was suddenly not very well, we all just assumed it could be something that could be put right.
"The older I get the more I seem to grieve, it’s weird. I find it quite hard to talk about death and dying. It’s something that we always think happens to other people but isn’t going to happen to us.
"I still cry for my Mum and my Dad all the time."
Alison Steadman ‘assigned the job’ of telling late mum she was going to die
