Ruth Langsford chokes back tears as she opens up about beloved sister Julia’s tragic suicide and explains the impact the devastating loss has had on her life: ‘I miss her so much’

Sharing insight into her grief, Ruth Langsford tearfully described the tragic suicide of her beloved sister Julia and its devastating impact.

The 66-year-old star of The Loose Women said she continues to miss her sister “so much” but after years of desperately trying to understand, she has come to the sad realization that she may never know why he took his own life.

Ruth’s sister Julia Johnson, who had been struggling with depression for years, was found dead by her husband Paul at their home in Lingfield, Surrey, in June 2019, aged 62.

Fearne Cotton’s speech Happy Place The TV personality said on the podcast: ‘I think suicide is fair, it’s a huge tragedy and people are left behind not knowing why. And your question is just: “Why? Why? Why? Why?”.

‘And then, as time went on, I accepted that I would never know why and nothing could bring it back.’

He continued: ‘The only way I can make sense of this and stop the pain is to know that he doesn’t want to be here and nothing I can do can really change that.’

‘You just think you can do something. Why couldn’t we see it? How could we not see it? Why didn’t he talk to us? From where? From where? From where? And there are no answers because he will never be able to tell us why’.

Crediting the job for helping her through her grief, she said: ‘I miss him so much but I know he doesn’t want me to have a sad life and I cried a lot and took a lot of time off work.’

‘Then I thought'[my sister] ‘He doesn’t want this for you,’ you need to get back there. And work has always been my saviour, actually.’

Ruth previously described 2019 as the ‘toughest year’ of her life following Julia’s death and thanked her then-husband Eamonn Holmes for his ‘fantastic support’ – the couple split in 2024 after 14 years of marriage.

Ruth also spoke about almost quitting her TV presenting career after being ‘heartbroken’ following the death of her sister.

Speaking to Best Magazine in 2020, she admitted: ‘It seemed wrong to be cheerful on screen when my heart was breaking inside.’

Ruth’s sister Julia Johnson, who had been struggling with depression for years, was found dead by her husband Paul at their home in Lingfield, Surrey, in June 2019, aged 62.

But Eamonn encouraged him to return to work in Julia’s memory after admitting she had “no motivation or desire” to be in the public eye.

After a month of ‘crying, screaming and sobbing’, Ruth said Eamonn told her she ‘had a lot to live for’.

Meanwhilereach the top Kaye Adams on it how to become 60 podcast He said in 2023: ‘The hardest year of my life was the year my sister died. I can’t even tell you what year it was, because I’ve literally erased it from my memory.” I needed to focus; which was: Get up and I was going to cry in the shower, an old scream, and then I could almost cut it out and go: “Okay, come on, time to work, dry your hair, go to work”.

‘I needed this because I could lie and cry about my sister all day long. ‘I needed that focus and structure in my life.’

Ruth also stressed the importance of not locking the pain of losing a loved one ‘in a box’ as she spoke candidly about her pain with her Loose Women co-star Kaye.

Sharing a photo with Julia in June 2019, Ruth told her Instagram followers at the time of her sister’s tragic death: ‘My lovely sister Julia has sadly passed away after a very long illness. ‘I’m completely heartbroken.’

‘He was such a kind and gentle soul and I will miss him forever. I’m sure you’ll appreciate that I need to take time to grieve with my family. Thank you for your understanding.’

If any of the issues raised in this article have affected you, please call Samaritans free on 116123 or visit www.samaritans.org.