Jonathan Ross missed the chance to see his mother just before she died.
The 58-year-old talk show host lost his beloved mum Martha in January 2019 when she succumbed to cancer at the age of 79.
Jonathan admits he has a deep regret about not going to see on the day of her passing because he planned to visit later on that week so she would have company every day.
In an interview on ITV show ‘Loose Women’ on Wednesday (11.09.19), he said: "What’s awful is – and I did see her shortly before her death – she had a form of cancer but we were told it was liveable and so we assumed she’d be around for a lot longer. And then she got ill and the phone call went round and we had a family WhatsApp group so we all kept in touch. But I feel bad because everyone said, ‘We’ll all go and see her.’ And I said, ‘Let’s not all go and see her today because then there’s no one going to see her tomorrow. We’ll spread it out over the week.’ Only two could go that day and then she died that day so that last day when I would’ve seen her [I didn’t], although I don’t know if she really knew what was going on."
Jonathan admits he’s still struggling to come to terms with her death and he doesn’t think anything can prepare you for the loss of a parent.
He added: "My dad is still alive so this is the first of my parents that we lost and it is devastating. You know it’s going to be a big loss but you don’t really know how it’s going to feel and I don’t know whether you ever fully get over it really."
As well as Jonathan, Martha had four other children; radio host Paul, TV producer and actor Miles, TV producer Simon, music industry executive Adam and daughter Liza, and Jonathan will always remember fondly how proud she was of all of her five kids.
He said: "What’s interesting – and I’m sure this will strike a chord with a lot of you when you think about your parents – is that whenever anyone said, ‘You must be so proud of Jonathan,’ she would go, ‘I’m proud of all my children.’ I don’t feel like I have any ownership over her nor do any of my brothers and sister because she loved us all, there was no holding back at all, she loved us equally."
Martha was an actress and radio presenter and she appeared on ‘EastEnders’ for 20 years playing a stallholder on Walford’s Bridge Street market and she was instrumental in encouraging all of her children to seek employment in the entertainment industry.
Jonathan Ross shares regret over mother’s death
