Denise Welch has reflected on her 32-year ‘endogenous’ depression battle in a new candid interview.
Speaking on The Hot Mess Mums Club podcast with Kelly Pegg and Jenny Powell, the actress, 62, also spoke about her new role as Trish Minniver on Hollyoaks.
Denise revealed that due to the pandemic, the Channel 4 soap has asked if her husband Lincoln Townley, 48, can be used as a body double for her intimate sex scenes with co-star Tom Benedict Knight, who plays Brad King.
Candid: Denise Welch has reflected on her 32-year ‘endogenous’ depression battle in a new candid interview
Also reflecting on her life during the chat, the former Coronation Street star bravely spoke about her 32-year battle with clinical depression.
Denise said that her depression started in 1989 after she welcomed her eldest child, 1975 singer Matthew Healy, 31, which was the ‘best and worst’ year of her life.
The actress, who also has son Louis, 20, with ex-husband Tim Healy, 69, said: ‘I always said that this has happened twice in my life. 1989 when I had Matthew, was the best and the worst year of my life .
‘The best, because obviously I had Matthew and he is the best thing that ever happened to me, along with Louis, but also because it was the start of my 32-year battle with clinical depression.’
New role: Speaking on The Hot Mess Mums Club podcast with Kelly Pegg and Jenny Powell, the actress, 62, also spoke about her new role as Trish Minniver on Hollyoaks where husband Lincoln Townley, 48, has been asked to be a body double for her sex scenes (pictured in 2018)
Styoryline: Denise’s character Trish is having a passionate on-screen relationship with Brad King, played by Tom Benedict Knight, 44, on Hollyoaks
Denise admitted that 2020 has also been the ‘best and worst’ for her due to the pandemic but she is grateful that her last episode of major depression was 2019.
She continued: ‘2020 is very similar, the best and the worst. The worst because we have been plunged into this dystopian hell, and especially for those of us who have children we worry about how it will affect them.
‘And, the best because the last episode of major depression for me was in September 2019 and this is the longest, I have gone without a major depressive episode.
‘So, the whole of 2020, and for those people who think that depression is completely related to circumstances, it’s not. Mine is endogenous, but I have been emotional and in floods of tears.
Reflective: Also reflecting on her life during the chat, the former Coronation Street star bravely spoke about her 32-year battle with clinical depression (pictured with sons Matthew Healy, right, and Louis, left, in 2015)
‘I’ve been sad, I’ve been anxious which is a completely normal reaction to the circumstances, but I have not had major depression.’
Denise added that 30 years later, people are now encouraged to speak about their mental health but that there is still a ‘long way to go’.
Speaking about her new role on Hollyoaks, where she will play Maxine Minniver’s on-screen mother Trish, Denise said: ‘I can honestly say hand on heart, with this, I love it.
‘A good test of a job is when you are getting up at 5 in the morning, in a grim pandemic with the rain lashing at your car, and you are still excited to go to work in the morning, so I love it. And the character is lovely too.’
Denise’s character Trish is having a passionate on-screen relationship with Brad King, played by Tom Benedict Knight, 44.
Post-natal: Denise said that her depression started in 1989 after she welcomed her eldest child, 1975 singer Matthew Healy, 31, which was the ‘best and worst’ year of her life (pictured together in 2011)
The actress admitted that their steamy sex scenes have been ‘challenging’ during the pandemic so the soap has asked if her husband Lincoln can be used as a body double.
Denise said: ‘It is very challenging for me and Tom as we are playing a couple who clearly have a very active intimate life, without touching each other because of COVID. It’s almost tantric.
‘Because of the way Hollyoaks is shot, it’s similar to film style, so for that intimacy, they have asked if Lincoln would go in as a body double for Tom, so that we could snog.
‘So, the camera will be on Tom, and then it will be reversed and then it will be on Lincoln, in a Tom wig, and us doing it. So, Lincoln is absolutely gutted that the gyms are shut, as now they have asked for all his measurements.
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‘It is a bit like, at the start of lockdown we did Dun Breedin’, and Lincoln then had to play my real-life partner also. So, who can go into lockdown as an artist and come out as a body double in Hollyoaks in one year!’
Career: Speaking about her new role on Hollyoaks, where she will play Maxine Minniver’s on-screen mother Trish, Denise said: ‘I can honestly say hand on heart, with this, I love it.’
Denise has had a successful career as an actress starring in the likes of Coronation Street, Waterloo Road, and now Hollyoaks.
Talking about her journey, she said: ‘I know I have been a bit Marmite over the years but, like you [hosts Jenny and Kelly] we are all about empowering older women.
‘I think that it is such a cliche, but it is so important to me, because you can get bogged down and think, “Oh, I’m 62, in eight years I’m gonna be this etc” but you can flip the narrative and think, “Yeah, I am only 62”.
‘A lot of women of my age, in this industry, feel totally invisible and you have to tell yourself you’re not. I look at myself and I’m like, “Yeah, you’re 62, but you’re doing a crime show, Hollyoaks and Loose Women and I’ve got a younger man!”‘
Denise joked that fans will be ‘missing’ her bikini pictures as due to the pandemic she hasn’t been able to go on holiday.
On-screen daughter: Denise appeared on screen as Trish in January 2021 under the shadow of boyfriend Brad, who takes a shine to her daughter Maxine (played by Nikki Sanderson, pictured)
She quipped: ‘I know people are missing my bikini pictures, and obviously there haven’t been any because I can’t go on holiday. I get a lot of support for my bikini pictures but also a lot of stick for it.
‘But I don’t do bikini pictures saying, “Hey, look at me!” I work with LighterLife because I really believe in their ethos, especially now, I want to celebrate healthy women.
‘But I think, I’ve got a wobbly tummy and stretch marks, but I don’t look half bad for someone who’s 62, so if I want to get a bikini bod at 62, I will still be doing it at 92.’
Amazing: Denise also joked that fans will be ‘missing’ her bikini pictures as due to the pandemic she hasn’t been able to go on holiday
Denise has candidly spoke about her mental health and over the summer the star admitted that at her lowest she tried to throw herself out of a taxi, describing how post-natal depression, following the birth of her son Matt in 1989.
Promoting her new book The Unwelcome Visitor: Depression and How I Survive It, Denise said she wanted to speak publicly about her experiences to help others.
Denise also revealed how her illness affected her work, confessing she didn’t do theatre for 12 years after having a ‘terrible episode of depression in the middle of a show’.
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details
Source: Daily Mail
