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Loose Women’s Nadia Sawalha has revealed the emotional farewell to her parents who have left the UK for their native Jordan due to her father’s ongoing health issues.
The 37-year-old actress and chat show panelist has regularly shared loving snaps of her parents, mother Roberta, 87, and father Nadim, 89, who also lived next door for “decades” to keep them close.
But after years of health problems for her 89-year-old father, Nadia told Kaye Adams, Frankie Bridge and Jane Moore about her parents’ difficult decision to return to Jordan and her sad goodbye.
Emotional: Loose ladies Nadia Sawalha has revealed the emotional farewell to her parents who left the UK to their native Jordan due to her father’s health issues
“The day before yesterday my parents went on an adventure as my father says,” Nadia told the Loose Women on Friday.
“It’s quite heartbreaking that we left here because I’ve lived next door to my parents for decades.
‘And my father is 89, he’s been through quite a bit with his health.
“The few times he had to go to the hospital was very difficult – and you wait 12 hours in the hospital. And all this stuff, the pandemic… anyway.
Emotional: The 37-year-old actress regularly shared loving snaps of her parents, mother Roberta, 87, (left) and father Nadim, 89, (right) who also lived next door for ‘decades’
“My father decided to go to Jordan, and we took them with my mother, 89 and 87, and took them to the airport. We had prepared for it.
‘Of course I broke down.
“I checked them all in, turned around and they were both in their wheelchairs. I gave them a hug and just started crying.
“I saw people looking at me, so I turned to my daughter for a moment, turned around and they were gone!
Health concerns: After years of health problems for her 89-year-old father Nadim (pictured together), Nadia told the Loose Women about her parents’ difficult decision to return ‘home’ to Jordan
“It was literally like that and the airport heaved. It was like, no, they’re gone.
‘I am so proud. My father is now sitting in the sun with his brother, they have sent me a picture of them in a restaurant with family.’
She added: “I want them with me, I miss them already, but when you say you really love someone, you let them go.
“It’s the right thing for them, because it’s… I don’t think it’s a very good place to be old right now, in this country.”
Nadia’s father Nadim Sawalha is a Jordanian-born British actor, and his wife, Roberta Lane, also known as Betty, had three children together, including Nadia in 1964.
Conclusion: She told the Loose Women panel: ‘It’s the right choice for them because it’s… I don’t think it’s a very good place to be old in this country right now’
In 2020, Nadia praised her parents after revealing that they feel they are “a burden” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Instagram, the Loose Women star shared a series of snaps of mom Roberta and dad Nadim, reassuring them that they are far from what they think they are seen.
In her post, Nadia wrote forcefully, “Not “elderly,” not “vulnerable,” not “a burden,” not “an attack on the system,” while declaring how much her parents meant to her.
The TV host shared several cute snaps of her mom and dad dressed in quilted white hooded jackets with a furry trim, each enjoying a pork pie.
Expressing how much her father, an actor, dislikes being defined that way, she continued: “Dad says he hates being defined that way. He hates the way the media pigeonholes his generation and makes them feel like a burden.
Loose Women is broadcast on weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV and ITVHub.
People: On Instagram in 2020, the Loose Women star, 55, shared a series of snaps of mom Roberta and dad Nadim, reassuring fans that they are far from ‘elderly’ or ‘vulnerable’