The Good Morning Britain hosts are paid to provide us with information about the world on a daily basis, but publicly opening up about their private lives and, case in point, health battles, is also particularly useful. From Susanna Reid's struggles with tinnitus to Kate Garraway's mental health admissions, having the GMB stars talk frankly about their individual health conditions helps raise awareness, lessen stigma and act as support for anyone in similar situations. Here's everything they’ve shared.
SEE: Kate Garraway reveals she underwent same EMDR therapy as Prince Harry following 'traumatic' year
WATCH: Ben Shephard shares update following traumatic surgery
Susanna Reid
Susanna Reid suffers with tinnitus
Susanna Reid has spoken out about her battle with tinnitus a few times in the past. Speaking on Good Morning Britain in 2015, she explained that it developed after giving birth to her son, Finn. "When I first started hearing it, which was probably about ten years ago, I became quite distressed that I would never hear silence again. The treasured item you lost and wish you could have again. Silence. I've had tinnitus since Finn's birth, which probably resulted from a difficult labour."
MORE: GMB's Susanna Reid's condition is 'incurable'
In 2018, she revealed that she was still suffering, when she took to Twitter to say: "My tinnitus is so loud right now. The noise you used to hear when TV programming finished at the end of the day? That. In my head."
According to the British Tinnitus Association, "there is no cure for tinnitus", which it defines as "the sensation of noise in the head with no external source", meaning Susanna will be battling with the condition indefinitely.
Kate Garraway
Kate Garraway and her husband Derek Draper
Kate Garraway has spoken out about her struggles with mental health several times since her husband Derek Draper contracted coronavirus and was placed into an induced coma. Such trauma means that Kate turned to therapy to help her cope, and she opened up about choosing EMDR (eye movement desensitisation reprocessing) – the same method as Prince Harry – in order to manage. On an episode of Good Morning Britain, she said: "It's called Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing, a bit of a mouthful, I have actually had a little bit of this. It's not a million miles away from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, processes like this… Less to do with therapy where you talk about your childhood, it's more practical."
Ben Shephard
Ben Shephard has been using an electrostimulation machine since having ACL surgery
When Ben Shephard took part in a veterans' football match in July 2021 he was left with a ruptured ACL, a torn meniscus muscle and a fractured leg. He was left bed bound and required surgery, which meant he couldn’t walk for 12 days, and needed an electrostimulation machine to encourage recovery. He took to Instagram to explain how it worked: "It's gonna make my muscles work while I'm doing my rehab," he said. "Just trying to stimulate the quad while reducing the swelling around my knee."
Three months later he shared an update proving that the rehab was working, although he hasn’t quite made a full recovery. After finishing his first run post-surgery, he said: "It wasn't quick, it wasn't pretty but it was bloody marvellous to be out and getting the running back in my legs. The knee seems to hold up ok thanks to @symmetryperformance for getting me this far and @keep.attacking for keeping me attacking."
Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan is battling with long covid
Former GMB host Piers Morgan contracted coronavirus during the pandemic, and in September 2021, opened up about battling with symptoms of long Covid. "Has anyone had long covid symptoms of fatigue and loss of taste/smell for 10 weeks or more and then fully recovered," he asked on Twitter. "If so, what did you do that helped get over it? It's getting very irritating."
Piers has had both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but claims to have started experiencing symptoms two days after the Euro 2020 final. He cited symptoms including a raging fever, chills, coughing and sneezing fits.
Charlotte Hawkins
Charlotte Hawkins' father passed away from motor neurone disease before her daughter was born
While Charlotte recently opened up about battling coronavirus, the most notable health issue she has spoken out about is that of her late father's: motor neurone disease. Vicar Frank died at the age of 78 in 2015, just a month before Charlotte gave birth to her daughter Ella Rose. Charlotte spoke out about his battle with the terminal illness on an episode of This Morning: "He was diagnosed in September 2011. He'd start to feel his balance had been affected. He described it as feeling like he was walking through snow. He knew himself that something was wrong, and I think he sensed that it was something serious… When he finally got that diagnosis, it shook all our worlds.
READ: GMB's Charlotte Hawkins' covid battle revealed in full: 'I am so glad to be here'
"Their body gives up around them, it just deteriorates. They end up being a shell of the person they once were. He was grateful in a sense that he got it in his 70s. It can happen at any age… My dad felt he'd seen his children grow up, his grandchildren being born, he felt fortunate from that point of view. HE had an amazing attitude towards it. It's too late for my dad but we owe it to everybody else to really put the money into researching this."
Alex Beresford
Alex Beresford shared a photo from hospital after having his tonsils removed
In January 2021, Alex Beresford revealed he had had his tonsils out. He shared a video on Instagram and wrote: "Hey guys. I hope everyone is having a good Wednesday. I have just checked into the hospital because I am having a tonsillectomy today. I'm having my tonsils out. I'm not even gonna read any comments that I get, because I'm sure it's gonna be, 'Oh it's painful, 'Oh, it's gonna hurt' – and I know all of this. I won't lie, I'm a bit nervous because I've never had an operation before. I know kids get this all the time or used to, so there's nothing to worry about."
Ranvir Singh
Ranvir Singh has been battling with alopecia since childhood. In a candid interview with The Mirror in 2015, she recalled the moment she discovered her first bald patch. "I had really lovely thick, dark locks that went down to my hips," she said. "I remember my mum plaiting my hair for school. She put her finger at the nape of my neck and went, 'Ooh' as she felt a bald patch."
SEE: Ranvir Singh reveals alopecia struggle and the treatment that’s boosted her confidence
Ranvir explained that she believes the alopecia was triggered by her dad's heart attack, which happened when she was eight years old. "It was absolutely devastating," she explained. "I'd have nightmares and wake up crying."
A year later, her father had another heart attack and tragically passed away. "My world was completely ripped apart," she said, while her "hair loss went completely haywire". "Over the years, patches at the front of my hair started appearing," she said.
Since, Ranvir has opened up about hacks she's tried to help her feel more confident, including having a fringe cut into her hair, using tinted thickening powders and hair extensions, and most recently, having eyebrow microblading done.
Lorraine Kelly
Lorraine Kelly's husband encouraged her to seek help for her menopause
While the menopause isn't necessarily a difficult experience for all, Lorraine Kelly has branded her battle "horrible".
"My husband didn't know what was going on!" she said. "He said, 'What can I do, how can I help?' It was him who said, 'You have to get some help'."
From there, Lorraine spoke to ITV's resident doctor, Dr Hilary Jones, who suggested it was her menopause taking shape. "We quite rightly talk about women going through the menopause," she said. "But partners go through it too and I don't think we talk about it enough."
Laura Tobin
Laura Tobin's daughter was born prematurely at just 27 weeks
Weather presenter Laura Tobin's biggest health battle involved her daughter, Charlotte Blossom Eva, who was born prematurely at just 27 weeks, weighing 2lb 8oz. Charlotte spent her first 83 days being cared for in hospitals, making an immensely stressful time for Laura.
RELATED: Laura Tobin shines spotlight on new campaign by talking about her journey through premature birth
In an interview with HELLO!, Laura said: "With most premature babies who are born really early, their lungs don't function properly, which makes them much more susceptible to colds and coughs and other illnesses. The advice is basically to do what we've all been doing for much of this year, which is to lock down. I now realise that the approach we took was quite extreme, but I just didn't want our baby girl to get poorly."
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