Jeanne Little’s daughter reveals devastating note found hidden in mum’s home

Jeanne Little remains one of Australia’s favourite entertainers decades after first bursting onto the scene, winning fans across the country with her over-the-top fashion, chirpy personality and “Darrrrling” catchphrase. She won a Gold Logie for her work on The Mike Walsh Show, but hasn’t appeared on screens in more than a decade after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2009.

Her daughter Katie Little appeared on Tuesday’s episode of Today and opened up to host Georgie Gardner about how her mother has changed since being impacted by Alzheimer’s. She also confirmed that while her mother isn’t like she used to be, the woman Aussies watched on TV for decades was who her mother really was.

“That was mum, 100 per cent of the time,” she said. “Still to this day, people say, ‘Was your mother always like that?’”

Katie explained that her famous mother was always ditzy and that the family had probably missed early warning signs of Alzheimer’s. She recalled the moment she realised her mum’s mind was truly fading when she found a note Jeanne had written and hidden under a rug in her apartment.

“It was like a diary entry with a date at the top and it said, ‘Today I was taken off to the doctor who said I’d been given some pills to see if I could be like I used to be and I don’t understand what this is all about and not even my daughter or my husband will tell me.’

“Mum was there in the room hearing what the doctor was saying but was far too gone by that stage to understand.”

She admitted she didn’t know what she was in for when her mother was first diagnosed and described the disease as “horrible”. While the Beauty and the Beast star is still alive, her daughter said she’s unreachable and doesn’t really recognise her.

“Mum would hate living like this, absolutely hate it,” Katie explained. “She can’t do anything for herself, she can’t walk, she can’t talk, she can’t feed herself. She’s completely dependent on these fabulous nurses who have to get her out of bed, bathe her, feed her, dress her.”

The author – who recently wrote a book about her mother – also said she couldn’t believe Jeanne reached her 80th birthday and that she’d survived for 10 years following her diagnosis. Katie said she was sad that her own kids missed out on getting to know their grandmother and that Jeanne is also missing out.

Her latest interview comes two months after she appeared on The Daily Edition to discuss her book, Catch a Falling Star.

Read more: The heartbreaking note Jeanne Little wrote after Alzheimer’s diagnosis

“The book was meant to be about childhood and adolescence, because I had such an interesting period to write about, but then the publisher said, ‘Look, we want the ending with your mother getting sick’, so it was like being asked to go and self-harm in a corner for six months,” she said during that interview.

Katie Little has just released a new memoir about her mother, iconic entertainer Jeanne Little! ✨ #TDE7 pic.twitter.com/bZp8Fq1czA

— The Daily Edition (@DailyEditionOn7) September 24, 2018

“If I’m going to write about this, I really want to write about the whole truth.”

Were you a fan of Jeanne Little? Do you know someone living with Alzheimer’s or dementia?