Denise Welch Hits Back at Claims about ‘Loose Women’ Show

She is one of the longest-serving panelists on Loose Women having spent nearly two decades on the team.

And Denise Welch has hit back at criticism she makes the show ‘all about me’ and said: ‘That’s the whole point, it actually is so shut up.’

The 66-year-old has been a regular on the ITV chat show since 2005 and is known for sharing her struggle with post-natal depression after giving birth to her son, the 1975 frontman, Matty Healy, 35.

But the mother-of-two revealed she has been driven mad in recent years over the constant need to watch what she says on the show for fear of offending people before admitting she was ‘fatist’.

Denise said: ‘We have to self-edit a million times more than we did. We live in a very PC world and you have to be careful or else you’ll offend someone every day and it drives me mad.’

Denise Welch, 66, is one of the longest-serving panelists on Loose Women having spent nearly two decades on the team

And she’s recently hit back at criticism she makes the show ‘all about me’ and said: ‘That’s the whole point, it actually is so shut up.’

Speaking to Caroline Hiron’s podcast, Glad We Had This Chat, the mother of Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriend admitted to being ‘fatist’.

She laughed at how some fans of the show, ‘Who are 33 stone,’ say they look like her.

The Waterloo Road actress said: ‘This will sound like I’m being fatist, and I kind of am, but usually it’s about somebody who’s 33 stone which comes up to me and says, “I’ve always been told I look like you,” and I say, “Hey, Maureen, it’s like looking in a mirror,” oh, and they’ve got one tooth, one tooth!’

It comes as Loose Women was hit with 203 Ofcom complaints from viewers after the Coronation Street star expressed her frustration over the ongoing criticism of Meghan and Harry.

She launched a heated tirade at Queen Elizabeth II’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter, who appeared on the show last month and passionately defended the Sussexes’ decision to leave the UK.

Her outspoken views have often meant she is the subject of much criticism from viewers with many saying she speaks too much about herself.

Denise said: ‘You know you get Doris from Darlington on Twitter and they say, ‘Ugh it’s the Nadia [Sawalha] and Denise show, it’s not about you, you know!” 

The TV star has been a regular on the ITV chat show since 2005 and is known for sharing her struggle with post-natal depression after giving birth to her son, the 1975 frontman, Matty Healy, 35

But the mother-of-two revealed she has been driven mad in recent years over the constant need to watch what she says on the show for fear of offending people before admitting she was ‘fatist’

Her outspoken views have often meant she is the subject of much criticism from viewers with many saying she speaks too much about herself

Denise said: ‘You know you get Doris from Darlington on Twitter and they say, ‘Ugh it’s the Nadia [Sawalha] and Denise show, it’s not about you, you know!”

‘And it’s like, it is though Doris, that’s actually the whole point. It is an opinion and anecdotally led show so it is actually about us, Doris. So shut the f*** up. It takes experience to be a good panellist’

‘And it’s like, it is though Doris, that’s actually the whole point. It is an opinion and anecdotally led show so it is actually about us, Doris. So shut the f*** up. It takes experience to be a good panellist.’ 

The actress, who lives in Wilmslow in Cheshire, walked out of Loose Women in October 2013 due to differences with the new director of ITV, Helen Warner, before returning to the show in 2018.

In 2013 she wrote: #I felt my feelings and opinions could at least have been considered by the new boss.’