Former BBC Breakfast presenter Sian Williams has revealed that she collapsed during a live broadcast of the opening of the Diana memorial fountain in 2004 due to anxiety. The 61-year-old, who was a regular on the programme in the early 2000s, described the incident as she opened up about her lifelong struggle with the mental health condition.
Speaking to the Mail, Williams recalled the event on July 6, 2004, which was attended by Queen Elizabeth II. She said: 'It is blazingly hot and I've been on this stool and talking for what seems like for ever. Until at last, my director tells me, "The royals are on their way." … Just as I keel over, I hear the director shout to our royal correspondent, Nick Witchell: "Fill! Fill! Fill!"' A producer helped revive her with custard cream biscuits.
Williams, who has since retrained as a counselling psychologist and works for the NHS, described anxiety as a 'lifelong companion' that she has not eliminated but now views as a strength. She said: 'Sensitivity I think is the thing that helped me in journalism and certainly helps me as a psychologist. It can be your superpower - it has been mine.'
This is not the first time Williams has spoken about her anxiety; she released a book titled The Power of Anxiety this year. She joins other celebrities, such as Shona McGarty, who have publicly discussed their own struggles with the condition.
