For the first time in 35 years, I don't wake up frightened of my illness'

Loose Women panellist Denise Welch opens up about her many battles, including her lifelong struggle with numbers

- SHELLEY SPADONI

She’s a much-loved Loose Women panellist, a mental health advocate and an acclaimed actress, but Denise Welch has, often very publicly, fought many battles in life — from her struggles with depression, to her addiction to alcohol, one which, thankfully, she won many years ago alongside her husband, artist Lincoln Townley. However, another that Denise has not spoken at length about is her secret struggle with numbers — which led to her getting into hot water financially.

But now, as an ambassador for National Numeracy, Denise is getting on top of it, and sharing her story in the process. And she wants people to know two things, she says. If you’re struggling, it doesn’t make you “thick” — and secondly, help is at hand.

The straight-talking star, 66, who with her ex-husband, fellow actor Tim Healy, shares sons, Louis, 23, an actor, and The 1975 frontman Matty, 35, is nothing if not brutally honest. Happily, she tells us, she’s in a great place right now, in her career and personal life. Having struggled with her mental health over the years, culminating in a breakdown in 2019, she’s never felt better.

“If I could bottle how I’m feeling right now, I’d be a billionaire,” she laughs, chatting to us from her Loose Women dressing room at ITV. “I always knew the origin of my illness was hormonal, probably triggered by childbirth — it took 20 years to get anyone to accept that. I’ve been shouting from the rooftops about our mental health since 1991.

“In 2019, I had what we used to call a ‘breakdown’ — I get tingling in my hands, the colour drains from my life, I can feel it coming on. And I decided for the first time to chronicle that episode, in real time. I did just that for three days and when I came out of bed days later, it had gone viral. I’d even been on News At 10. It resonated.”