GMTV's Phillips hosts last show

Phillips has been a leading presenter on GMTV since 1996

Presenter Fiona Phillips has hosted GMTV for the last time after nearly 16 years with ITV's breakfast broadcaster.

The 47-year-old said she wanted to spend more time with her family when she announced her decision in August.

Her father is suffering from Alzheimer's while her mother, who died two years ago, also suffered from the same illness.

At the start of Thursday's show, she told viewers it had been "a privilege to be in your homes every morning".

Letters of support from viewers had left her "blubbing in my dressing room every day", she added.

Career rethink

Philips, who joined GMTV when it launched in 1993, has said leaving the show was "one of the hardest decisions I've ever made".

She told the Sunday Times that the strain of looking after both parents, along with the demands of childcare and marriage, had prompted her career rethink.

She said in September: "I'm 47 and my mum was in her late fifties when she developed Alzheimer's, so I am very aware that I may have only 10 years left of life as I know it.

"I must admit that it has contributed to my feeling of time flashing by. Why slog away getting up at 4am when you might not be able to look after your family in the way you want to later on?"

She began her GMTV career as an entertainment correspondent, before spending two years as the Los Angeles reporter and then landing the main presenting job.

Phillips is married to the station's programme editor Martin Frizell and the couple have two young sons.