{"id":12186,"date":"2025-07-21T05:29:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T05:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/12186\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T05:29:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T05:29:11","slug":"loose-womens-denise-welch-opens-up-on-losing-2-5st-with-simple-message-for-haters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/12186\/","title":{"rendered":"Loose Women’s Denise Welch opens up on losing 2.5st with simple message for haters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Denise Welch has given up alcohol but has dealt with another issue which almost became an addiction<\/p>\n

Mitya Underwood Senior Celebrity Writer<\/p>\n

16:30, 20 Jul 2025<\/p>\n

\"DeniseDenise Welch has opened up on her mental health struggles<\/p>\n

Denise Welch has faced a challenging start to the year, grappling with the resurgence of her “unwelcome visitor” after five years of respite. The popular Loose Women star had to withdraw from an acting role just before Christmas<\/a> and subsequently take a break from her ITV<\/a> duties due to bouts of depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n

“Some people deal with diabetes, or MS or cancer – my thing is mental illness,” she told OK! during an exclusive sit-down. “I live with it, and I enjoy the periods in between my episodes.”<\/p>\n

Having returned to the Loose Women panel several months ago, Denise is looking positively towards the future, particularly in light of some significant upcoming changes.<\/p>\n

In May, ITV disclosed plans to amalgamate production teams across three of its daytime programmes, reducing both Loose Women and Lorraine to 30 weeks per annum, reports the Mirror<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While the broadcaster has assured that there will be no “radical changes” among the panellists, the news has naturally led to some reflection on what lies ahead. For Denise, who became part of the show in 2005, this presents a chance to revisit her true passion and forte \u2013 acting.<\/p>\n

“I’m on television because I’m gobby and opinionated, and I think people can forget what I really do, and what I’m really good at, so I’m going to make a concerted effort to go back to what I do and know,” she added.<\/p>\n

Denise, who recently marked 12 years of marriage with artist Lincoln Townley, reveals that Loose Women occupies a special place in her heart – particularly given that the programme’s presenters average around 50 years of age. “It’s the only show in the country that not only celebrates older women, but reveres and listens to older women’s opinions,” she explains.<\/p>\n

\"DeniseDenise Welch and husband Lincoln Townley(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

Denise has established herself as somewhat of a figurehead for her youthful appearance and bold demeanour. Sporting her signature platinum-blonde cropped style, frequently paired with a bold scarlet pout, the 67-year-old radiates self-assurance – regardless of public opinion on her beach attire photographs.<\/p>\n

“Maybe I’m out to empower women, but I’m definitely out to say, ‘F*** off, haters.’ I’ve changed the narrative from ‘I’m 67’ to ‘I’m only 67’. I’ll wear swimwear if I live until I’m 97. And if you don’t like it, don’t look at my pictures.<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of misogyny out there, too. So, there’s an element of devilment in me as well, which is to say, ‘Don’t you ever tell any woman what she can and can’t wear.’ We had Christie Brinkley on Loose Women recently. She’s 71 and looks unbelievable.”<\/p>\n

Denise, mother to sons Matty – frontman and lyricist for The 1975 – and actor Louis with ex-husband Tim Healy, has grafted to build her self-belief, though the foundation was laid when she abandoned drinking 13 years ago. By that point she had become a familiar face across the nation, courtesy of parts such as Rovers Return publican Natalie Barnes in Coronation Street and educator Steph Haydock in Waterloo Road.<\/p>\n

\"AugustAugust 1997: Natalie Horrocks (Denise Welch) behind the bar.<\/p>\n

She’s now spent more of her life in the public eye than out of it. “I can’t really remember a time before,” she says.<\/p>\n

“It’s just how it is for our family.<\/p>\n

“Matthew is obviously really famous, and my other son, Louis, is playing the lead in Stranger Things in the West End. I go to the stage door and he’s surrounded by people. “I’ve always said to the boys, ‘You’re there because of those people, be as polite and respectful as you can be’.”<\/p>\n

When Denise achieved sobriety, she confesses she rapidly found herself “in danger of replacing one addiction with another” – food. She was consuming excessive amounts, she explains, but enrolling with LighterLife concerned far more than shedding the additional two-and-a-half stones.<\/p>\n

\"TheDenise with son Matty Healy of The 1975(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“LighterLife was the only company talking about the emotional side of eating, and using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to completely change my relationship with food.”<\/p>\n

She adds: “I was very newly sober so many of the things that I was learning through CBT, I was able to apply to my sobriety also.”<\/p>\n

The consequences of abandoning alcohol extended far beyond just herself, however. “My children, my marriage, everything, is down to my sobriety,” she declares.<\/p>\n

“It’s given my children and my stepson, Lewis, the wings to fly without worrying about me. I’m proud of the people I have created as a friendship group around me. That’s got to be something down to me? That I still have the same friends I had years ago, and that they love me and they support me.<\/p>\n

“I’m proud of some of the things I’ve done as an actress. It might sound big-headed, but it’s the one thing I say I’m f*****g good at. And I’m going to concentrate on reminding everybody of that!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denise Welch has given up alcohol but has dealt with another issue which almost became an addiction Mitya…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2525,6691,96,7950,347,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-12186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-coronation-street","tag-denise-welch","tag-entertainment","tag-geordies","tag-itv","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}