B. SMITH’S HUSBAND (DAN GASBY) ANNOUNCES HER PASSING AT 70 {VIDEO}

The husband of former lifestyle guru B. Smith appeared on TV with his new girlfriend on Friday morning to once again insist that his wife gave him her blessing to date someone else.

Barbara Smith, 69, who is better known as B. Smith, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2013 after suffering with symptoms for four years.

As her conditioned worsened her husband Dan Gasby, 64, began dating a new woman Alex Lerner while continuing to care for his sick wife.

Now, Gasby and his girlfriend appeared on ITV daytime show This Morning where they attempted to justify their controversial relationship following a bout of criticism.

Dan Gasby appeared on This Morning to defend his decision to date girlfriend Alex Sterner (pictured together) while caring for his wife B. Smith who suffers from Alzheimer's 

Speaking to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on a live video link from New Yok Dan said: 'Everyone has weighed in from a moral, religious, every kind of standard you can imagine.  

'My wife said to me, after she got the diagnosis in 2013... she put her hand on my arm she said, "I don't want anyone to tell our story. I want you to tell our story and I want you to tell it truthfully"

'We've always been in the public eye she said "I want you to go on, I don't want you to sit in a room with me and not have a life."' 

He continued: 'To me it's the truest expression of love to not hold someone to something that is not reasonable for their life expectancy. 

B and Dan married in 1992, and the pair still remain married and live together in New York 

'But at the same time I made a commitment and I made a vow to take care of her.'

Speaking of his wife's condition Dan described her as a '69-year-old' toddler who has become increasingly difficult to care for.

He said: 'You lose the ability to understand everything you don't know what day what week what month, what year it is, you don't know even how to toilet yourself.

'I call it living in hell without the heat.'

Dan went on to describe how he had initially turned to drink while trying to cope with his wife's diagnosis.

He went on: 'It's very frustrating and it caused me quite honestly to drink to much at a point to gain 30lbs to feel like I was in hell.

'I love her and I wanted to take care of her, which I'm doing, but...you start to live symbiotically their lives, and their lives start to close and shut down.'

Alex, who began dating Dan in 2017 and now helps care for B, says that B doesn't have the 'capability' to understand who she is. 

Speaking to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on Friday's This Morning Alex said that she had been subjected to 'unwarranted' abuse about their relationship

Dan says that his wife gave him her 'blessing' to move on with his life but she is past the capability of understanding who Alex is

Viewers at home shared their support for Dan on Twitter and said that people had no right to judge unless they had been in the same situation

She visits Dan's home where he lives with B every other weekend and even has her own space there.

Describing the abuse she had been subjected to personally she said:  'There is a lot of pressure.

'It has been very hard, there have been very hard judgments on me that are completely unexpected and unwarranted. It's been very rough.'

Dan goes on to describe the isolation he felt before he met Alex. 

He tells Ruth: 'Loneliness is deadly. Loneliness creates depression, Loneliness creates the feeling of hopelessness that causes you to spiral into things that ultimately take you down that will kill you.'

B. Smith's diagnosis came to light in 2014 when she was found in Manhattan after she went missing in Long Island. 

Alex (pictured with B) stays at Dan's home that he shares with his wife every other weekend and also helps to care for her 

The trailblazing model began her fashion career by becoming the first African-American woman to grace the cover of Mademoiselle magazine in 1976.

A decade later, Smith, a native of Pennsylvania, opened the first of her three restaurants located in New York, Washington, DC, and the village of Sag Harbor on Long Island.

In 2001, the renowned New York restaurateur launched her first home decor collection for Bed Bath and Beyond, offering bedding, bath ensembles, rugs and paper products.

For several years Smith was the spokesperson for national retailers. She also authored three cookbooks.

In 2011, she appeared in the Off-Broadway play Love, Loss and What I Wore, co-written by Nora Ephron.

Her half-hour talk show B. Smith With Style aired on BET and Bounce TV networks. She also hosted a show on SiriusXM radio.

Smith married Dan Gasby in 1992. He was the executive producer of the Essence Awards and the senior vice president of marketing at Camelot Entertainment Sales Inc.

B. Smith's husband has lashed out at her fans who have criticized him for having a girlfriend while his wife battles Alzheimer's.

'I love my wife but I can’t let her take away my life!' Dan Gasby explained in a post shared on the B. Smith and Dan Gasby Facebook page. 

Gasby was responding to the dozens of people who have criticized his relationship with his new girlfriend, Alex Lerner. 

Lifestyle guru Smith, who is 69, was diagnosed with the disease in 2013. 

'To the nickel & dime PayPal thot troll named after two European cities B lived in and all of us have travelled too extensively, to the writer and editor at The Neg-Grio! Who ginned up controversy by covertly spewing racist innuendo, to the bloggers who wallow in the mud and filth of lies, to the idiots and ignorant people calling for my arrest and saying B is or has ever been abused I only wish someone in your immediate family has Alzheimer’s so you can see feel and experience the pain of millions of people across this country so you can know first hand what it’s like to care 24/7/365 for someone who can no longer care for themselves!' Gasby wrote. 

Gasby continued to blast his critics, including 'those religious Neanderthal who judge as if Jesus was a ball and God is a bat swinging wildly and judging harshly I say to you! BSmith’s worst day is 10x better than you’ve experienced'.

B. Smith's husband has lashed out (above) at her fans who have criticized him over having a girlfriend while his wife battles Alzheimer's

Gasby (center) was responding to the dozens of people who have criticized his relationship with his new girlfriend, Alex Lerner (left). Lerner and Gasby are pictured with B. Smith (right) in 2018 

'5-10 years from now when many of you who will have an almost predestined meeting with Alzheimer’s because of genetics, obesity, and a myriad of inflammatory diseases, you’ll be wishing for someone to share moments with and ease the pain of loneliness and despair.

'The clock is ticking I know I can and have manage this but can you do it too?' Gasby concluded. 

Gasby's post comes a day after several of Smith's fans expressed their outrage at Gasby's new relationship. 

Smith was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2013 after more than four years of suffering from dementia symptoms. 

Since her diagnosis, her husband has continued to care for her in their home in East Hampton, New York. 

But along the way, Gasby found it difficult to care for Smith, and in the summer of 2017, he met Lerner, according to The Washington Post. 

Since Smith's (left, with her husband in 2015) diagnosis, her husband has continued to care for her in their home in East Hampton, New York. But along the way, Gasby found it difficult to care for Smith, and in the summer of 2017, he met his girlfriend (right) 

Lerner and Gasby have been together ever since, but their relationship has prompted backlash from Smith's fans (pictured) 

Another Twitter user called it 'situation ethics at its best' (above)

'You don’t bring your mistress in the house where your WIFE lives. She’s not dead,' one user wrote on the B. Smith and Dan Gasby Facebook page. 

A YouTube vlogger said that Lerner is 'having her lifestyle funded by a black woman'.

'This white woman didn’t have to build a thing with you [Gasby],' the vlogger added. 

One Twitter user quoted a line from the Post's article. 

'"When B. was lucid, she and Dan sometimes clashed over his flirtations." B has no family and her husband moves in a woman who has everything to gain should B suffer an "accident". We'll see this on Investigation Discovery Channel,' the user tweeted.

Another Twitter user called it 'situation ethics at its best'. 

But Dana Gasby, Smith's step-daughter, said she gave her father her blessing when he finally told her about his relationship with Lerner. 

Dana told the Post: 'When he told me, I was like, "Thank God. I'm happy."'

She told the newspaper that despite how the public feels, her father hasn't abandoned Smith at all. 

'She’s in this house. She’s here every day,' she said. 

Lerner also said that it makes her feel good that she can help Smith on a daily basis. 

'If I can be compassionate to her, if I can do anything for her, it makes me feel good,' Lerner told the newspaper. 

Since Smith's diagnosis, her husband (both pictured in 2013) has continued to care for her

Lerner (left and right with Smith) said that it makes her feel good that she can help Smith on a daily basis. 'If I can be compassionate to her, if I can do anything for her, it makes me feel good,' Lerner said 

'If it is giving her something to drink, or making her something to eat - she loves to eat - I feel good,' Lerner added. 

There were also several fans who supported Dan Gasby's decision to date again.

'I wonder how many of those that are downing you Dan have ever been a caregiver of someone with Alzheimer's? I have been there but not 24 hours a day every day. I am not judging you because this is your life and B's life,' one user wrote on Facebook. 

'Make it what you want it to be and don't ever forget to take care of yourself. Prayers for you and B!' the user added. 

For several years Smith was the spokesperson for national retailers. She also authored three cookbooks

'Dan.....I support you. I have not walked a mile in your shoes so how could I judge! I wish you and all the people that you love an incredible amount of peace and happiness!' another user wrote under an image of Gasby, Smith and Lerner. 

Smith's diagnosis came to light in 2014 when she was found in Manhattan after she went missing in Long Island. 

The trailblazing model began her fashion career by becoming the first African-American woman to grace the cover of Mademoiselle magazine in 1976.

A decade later, Smith, a native of Pennsylvania, opened the first of her three restaurants located in New York, Washington, DC, and the village of Sag Harbor on Long Island. 

In 2001, the renowned New York restaurateur launched her first home decor collection for Bed Bath and Beyond, offering bedding, bath ensembles, rugs and paper products.

For several years Smith was the spokesperson for national retailers. She also authored three cookbooks.

In 2011, she appeared in the Off-Broadway play Love, Loss and What I Wore, co-written by Nora Ephron.

Her half-hour talk show B. Smith With Style aired on BET and Bounce TV networks. She also hosted a show on SiriusXM radio.

Smith married Dan Gasby in 1992. He was the executive producer of the Essence Awards and the senior vice president of marketing at Camelot Entertainment Sales Inc.