Former ITV news presenter Carol Barnes is seriously ill in hospital after a stroke, her agent has said.
The 63-year-old, who presented News at Ten for several years, was admitted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton over the weekend.
Knight Ayton Management, which represents Barnes, said her son James and close friends had asked for their privacy to be respected.
She was last seen on TV in January presenting an ITV documentary.
Barnes fronted Saving Ed Mitchell, about a former colleague's struggle with alcoholism.
She started her career as a teacher before moving into public relations and journalism.
Barnes was part of London radio station LBC's launch line-up in 1973, and later joined ITN as a reporter in the mid-1970s.
She went on to present all of ITV's main news programmes, and worked on the now-defunct ITV News Channel when it opened in 2000.
She had a lengthy relationship with former government minister Denis MacShane.
Marriage
Their 24-year-old daughter Clare died as the result of a skydiving accident in Australia in 2004.
Later that year, she was stopped by police near Brighton on suspicion of speeding and was found to be over the legal alcohol limit.
She was eventually found guilty of drink-driving and subsequently lost her role as a magistrate.
After separating from Mr McShane, whom she never married, she went on to tie the knot with ITN cameraman Nigel Thomson. The couple have two children.
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