Jo Brand has said she’s “not terribly good at grief” after experiencing the deaths of her parents, two brothers and three of her closest friends in the last 10 years.
The 69-year-old comedian’s mother died in 2021 after contracting Covid-19 while suffering other health issues. Her father had dementia and moved into a care home at the end of his life, which Brand has publicly discussed as part of her role as an Alzheimer’s Society ambassador.
Her brothers Matt and Bill died in 2016 and 2021 respectively, both after cancer diagnoses.
A new interview with The Guardian also notes the death of Brand’s three best friends, which she writes about in her new book Decline and Falling Over.
Asked how she has dealt with the losses, Brand replied: “I’ve been very good at suppressing my emotions.”
She continued: “I was always taught not to show any weakness in public, which used to be just a bloke’s thing, didn’t it? So I probably haven’t handled it all very well – I just pretended it wasn’t happening for a long time because I couldn’t believe how awful it was.”
In the book, Brand writes: “So yes, I’m not terribly good at grief, because I’m not terribly good at acceptance, either – I don’t think I’ve done that yet at all.”
Speaking about her father’s dementia in 2025, Brand said he “began to deteriorate very gradually, which was noticed by his neighbours”.
'My dad was a bright guy, fun dad, and a very valuable member of society.'
— Alzheimer's Society (@alzheimerssoc) September 24, 2025
Jo Brand speaks about her dad, who had dementia, and the impact moving care home had on the progression of dementia towards the end of his life.
Jo is raising awareness to help improve experiences for… pic.twitter.com/MjBtbJAnb8
“He would leave his front door open all night, he would hit cars in the car park when he was trying to drive, that sort of thing,” she explained. He then moved into a care home “which he loved”, but was forced to relocate to another after falling in the night and breaking his femur.
“He became quite confused, just stopped properly talking to people, didn’t really know who people were, didn't recognise us, and at that point he passed away fairly soon after that,” she said.
As well as working with the Alzheimer’s Society, Brand has performed at a comedy gig to raise funds for St Michael’s Hospice in Hampshire, where her brother Bill died.
“The Hospice turned out to be an oasis at the end of a very arduous and painful road and I can’t thank them enough for providing a welcoming, calm and kind environment,” she said at the time.
Brand, who started her comedy career when she was in her thirties in the mid-1980s, stepped down as host of Great British Bake Off companion show An Extra Slice after last year’s series. Earlier this year, she appeared on an episode of the hidden-camera show Celebrity Sabotage and is currently on a tour to promote her book.
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