Denise Welch has revealed she was recently absent from Loose Women after suffering a breakdown.
The 66-year-old actress has been a panellist on the ITV programme since 2005 however she’d not appeared on the show for the past three months.
On her return on Tuesday, Denise spoke about why she’d not be seen on screens since last year.
Giving some background to her mental health, Denise said she hadn’t had a breakdown in five years and until recently hadn’t been ‘frightened’ of her depression – which she calls her ‘unwelcome visitor’ – returning.
Despite facing a busy workload last year and being told her stalker was being released for jail, Denise said she ‘didn’t feel stressed’ before her illness returned out of the blue in November.
While driving one day, Denise said she was struck by a feeling of ‘unreality’, got confused and drove up a one-way street and couldn’t remember how to get home.
She said things became ‘black so quickly’.
‘I haven’t had anxiety for a long time, but the panic attacks started and Lincoln (her husband) was trying to clear my diary and I stopped eating and my health was going down,’ she explained.
But with a booking to appear in a pantomime, Denise said she ‘didn’t want to let anyone down’ and ‘ploughed on’.
However, three days later she collapsed in the foyer of a hotel and told her agent she had to pull out of the show.
After a few months off work, Denise was ready to return to Loose Women last week – but was then taken to hospital.
‘I recovered from this episode and got back from a lovely holiday in the Caribbean last Saturday looking all bronzed and looking forward coming back on her and showing off my sun tan…and I got rushed to hospital with acute peritonitis (an infection of the stomach lining)’ she said.
‘So, I’ve been on drip for a week! They didn’t have to do surgery, they got it with antibiotics thankfully and I am now back and eating!’ she added.
Host Ruth Langsford then thanked Denise for sharing her story, standing up and hugging her before sharing details with viewers on how they could access help themselves if needed.
Denise had been due to play Captain Hook at the Nottingham Theatre Royal over the festive season but was then replaced by actor Richard Windsor.
A few weeks earlier she shared on Loose Women she’d been having a ‘really tough two weeks’.
In 2019 Denise spoke about being depressed for around 30 years.
‘It’s the most horrific isolating blackness. It can come on at any time, even when I’m happy,’ she explained on This Morning.
Loose Women airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV1.
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