Gloria Hunniford still having nightmares after her ‘horrific’ fall

Gloria Hunniford has admitted that she still suffers nightmares as a result of the "horrific" fall that left her hospitalised with a broken bone under her eye and a leg injury.

The 82-year-old broadcaster suffered the fall back in June after tripping over a rug onto a "very hard wooden floor".

The TV presenter showed her leg injury as she returned to ITV's Loose Women this week.

She said: "I still have nightmares about the terrible smack I made going down. It was terrible and it takes your confidence away.

"Even the way you walk down the street – a higgledy-piggledy paving stone will scare me now. But I am getting there...

"I tripped over a rug and went down on a floor that was as hard as concrete, but, fortunately, most of the bruising has gone and one of the make-up girls has found a potion that works a treat.

She also admitted that the fall has left her too scared to go do errands in case she has another accident, adding: "I'm a reasonably confident person usually. I don't want to sit doing nothing, that's why I'm here today, but it does affect your confidence.

"Even in my own garden, steps I know very well. I'm petrified of falling again. I didn't want to walk on [to the Loose Women set] today and make some stupid mistake and fall over.

"I haven't been able to go out to shops. I do think I'll walk along the street now looking for uneven pavement stones and things like that. Falls are bad, this one was bad."

Along with her sleepless nights the star, who said she still "isn't quite back to her usual self", is also unable to indulge in some of her favourite pastimes, including travelling overseas.

She has also revealed that she has cancelled her usual summer holiday in the South of France.

Back in June, Hunniford updated viewers about how she was coping following her hospitalisation.

Visiting the Loose Women set shortly after the fall she said: "This is my first day out [since the fall] and I couldn't think of a nicer place to come. I had a big [fall] this time. I tripped over a rug and I took the fall totally on my face. I took it all on a very hard wooden floor.

"I've cracked a bone under my eye, unfortunately. There's a bone under your eye that holds the socket in place, and that is unfortunately broken.

"As long as it doesn't take the muscle down my eyesight is good."

She also shared her fears that she might have a clot in her brain following her fall but “because a friend of mine had a similar fall. I was very relieved to know that I didn't”.

She continued: "I'm mostly worried about the eye. I feel comfortable now that I know the right person [an eye specialist] to go to if anything happened...

"My leg is pretty horrific-looking, but it's all still wrapped in stuff to help it to heal."

Sharing a photo of her badly bruised leg, which made her co-panelists, Jane Moore, Judi Love and Brenda Edwards wince, she also said the bruising around her eye was just as bad but did not want to share what it looked like without make-up.

She joked: "I thought, if I can get a Phantom of the Opera mask to cover [her face] that would be great' joked the TV icon."