Loose Women was forced to cut to a commercial break today after Brenda Edwards began sobbing on the panel.
Brenda, 56, had been speaking about her late son Jamal on the show when she was suddenly overcome with emotion.
She had recalled a moment on the weekend when a passerby had approached her to offer their sympathies.
But four years on from Jamal’s death, Brenda explained how she is still not ready to talk about him “out of the blue”.
The former X Factor star then broke down in tears as her emotions became too much.
The show was then pulled and sent to an advert break so Brenda could regain her composure.
Loose Women off air as Brenda Edwards breaks down
Today’s Loose Women panel – Brenda, Kaye Adams, Sue Cleaver and Nadia Sawalha – were discussing grief.
Brenda sadly has first-hand experience after Jamal’s death in 2022. The music star died aged 31 from a heart attack triggered by recreational drugs.
Brenda explained how a “lovely lady” who she “doesn’t know from Adam” had spoken to her on Saturday while she was out and about.
She said the woman explained how she watches her on the ITV show and that she ‘really feels for her’ after Jamal’s death.
Brenda continues: “She went away and then she came back about half an hour later and said, ‘I really feel for you and what happened’.
“It’s like, I can’t say, ‘Okay, you’ve said it once’ because I don’t want it to be taken in the wrong way.
“But if I speak about Jamal then I’ve harnessed my heart and my stomach to be able to speak about him. But if it’s out of the blue, it can knock me.”
She went on: “That person doesn’t know where my headspace is at that time. I could just start crying in front of that woman.”
‘I could just start crying’
Nadia sympathised with Brenda, saying she may not have “felt ready to be opened up”.
Sue said it would have been done “with the best intentions”, but also said the onus would be on Brenda to tell people if she didn’t want to talk.
But Brenda pointedly told her: “But it will never go down well. It will never go down very well.”
Becoming emotional, she continued: “In my personal experience, I have faced that. I find it so comforting to hear stories about Jamal all the time. I love it.
“But there’s such a wave… 20 hours out of a 24 hour day I’m just in a….”
Brenda then began sobbing.
Kaye Adams steps in
Kaye was quick to comfort Brenda as she became distressed. She held her arm and told her: “I know, I know.”
Nadia also tried to offer words of support. She said: “And that is the thing about grief, we never know when it’s going to take us.”
But Brenda did not stop crying.
“Let’s just go to break,” Kaye announced. She said to Brenda: “We are very aware we take a lot out of you when we ask you to speak about these things.”
Kaye then looked at the camera and said: “Coming up…”
With Brenda still distressed, she waved her hand. “Um.. we’ll be back after this. Loads more to come, loads more to come,” she said.
Viewers at home have quick to offer their sympathies to Brenda after watching the painful moment play out.
Writing on X, one said: “Sending love and hugs to Brenda.. family loss is soo difficult no matter which member of your family it is.”
Another added: “That was hard to see. We all grieve at sometime but I believe there is no greater loss than losing a child.”
And a third fan agreed: “Oh dear that’s incredibly difficult for Brenda today on @loosewomem. We all have our triggers who what sets us off and there should be no judgement for how we individually deal with it.”
Read more: Rachel Duffy supported by Traitors co-stars as she breaks silence over death of her mum
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