‘I've got my MOJO BACK'

Denise Van Outen reveals how she changed her life after a brief bout of depression

- ROBYN MORRIS

This time last year, Denise Van Outen, 45, admitted she was ‘unfit, miserable’ and had ‘given up’. After a broken foot forced her to pull out of the West End production of Chicago back in 2018, Denise was plagued with low moods.

But less than two years later, after a successful appearance on The Masked Singer, she’s in a much better place.

‘I made some life changes and reinvented myself,’ Denise said. So what’s really been going on behind closed doors for the star?

‘YOU FEEL SO RESPONSIBLE’

In 2018, Denise, who is mum to nine-year-old Betsy, was set to play Velma Kelly in the West End hit Chicago, 17 years after she first took on the role.

But before rehearsals even started, Denise was forced to pull out after an accident where she fractured her heel running.

‘Going into Chicago and the West End, which is all singing and dancing, I wanted to be super-fit, so before training I was running and it happened,’ she said.

‘I felt this shooting pain through my heel. I went to see an ankle specialist that day and found out that it was a stress fracture right through the heel, so – pretty bad.’ Denise added that having to pull out of the musical meant that her mental health spiralled.

‘It was awful,’ she said. ‘I felt fantastic both mentally and physically. I was feeling on top form. But I was devastated because it had just been announced that I was going into the show, and I’d done it 17 years ago.