Bill Ritter Details His First Symptoms Before Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

WABC Anchor Bill Ritter Shares Alzheimer's Diagnosis, Announces Retirement On-Air

Bill Ritter is sharing a candid look at his health.

Just days after the WABC anchor announced he’d been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and would be retiring from his on-air role, the 76-year-old shared additional insight into when he first started to notice symptoms.

“I think the first was about two years ago,” he said during a June 15 appearance on Good Morning America. “I realized I was forgetting people names and places. I didn’t know why that was happening.”

Ritter shared that while his forgetfulness went largely unnoticed, his wife Kathleen Friery noticed the change.

“We thought, ‘okay, well maybe I'm working too hard,’” he explained. “So, I scaled back.”

Indeed, the anchor said he stopped doing the 11 o’clock and five o’clock shows in 2025, instead only doing the 6 o’clock showing.

“I was sleeping for the first time at night,” he said, and yet, “It wasn't getting better and so it was at that moment, just like that, we said, ‘You know what? I got to get tested.’ And that’s what we did.”

It was then that Ritter was eventually diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s, which he shared publicly during the June 12 ABC 7 New York newscast.

In the days since, Ritter said the reaction from both the public and his loved ones has been “amazing,” with his family in particular—the anchor is dad to three children—acting as his rock.

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“Alzheimer's is a thing that gobbles up families,” he said. “And they're the real tough ones in this. You know, my kids say, ‘Dad, you're so brave about all this.’ And I'm not the one that's brave. It's my kids and my wife who are the brave ones. That's really the real case here.”

Riter also shared insight into his decision to share the news live, on-air.

“My job as a journalist is to speak honestly to the public and that is what drove me about this,” he explained. “Very few people knew about it. All the people that I wanted to talk to—my friends for 25 years, 30 years—I couldn't talk to them about it because we wanted it to be one big group.”

He continued, “My very good bosses figured out a way to do this and we did it. And we had an incredible time of this.”

During his announcement, Ritter shared that while he was stepping away from his job as an on-air journalist, he wasn’t straying too far from ABC—which he’s been part of since 1998—to help mentor the next generation at the network.

“I am going to so miss reporting the news to all of you,” he said, “with the truth, and with facts, no matter where they fall. It has been my honor to do just that. For now, I wish you health and peace, and let’s take care of each other.”

For more celebrities who have shared their health challenges publicly, read on.

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