Charley Webb Shares Life-Changing Diagnosis, Calls for Further Investigations

Charley Webb has revealed that she is in the early stages of being assessed for both autism and ADHD, and has more investigations to undergo.

The former Emmerdale star, 37, joined Francesca Allen and Wallis Day on the Girls Next Door podcast on Thursday, where she openly discussed neurodiversity and shared insights into her own assessment process.

While discussing ADHD, she said: ‘I’ve sort of just been diagnosed with that,’

‘I don’t want to confirm it because I’m only at the initial stages. More autism – autistic/ADHD. I’m like, what? I’ve just started the process (with doctors). 

She added: ‘I think ADHD is such a big subject now, and I think everyone is probably on the spectrum somewhere, like, it’s how deep you go into it.

For Charley, the diagnosis helped make sense of certain aspects of her personality, such as the way others perceive her as ‘cold’. 

She explained: ‘But it does make a lot of sense for me for things like people thinking that I’m really cold. I think that could just be like a little bit of the autistic side of me if it is true.

‘I’ve got to do way more investigations. But that doesn’t shock me that much. It’s interesting. ‘I’m not the biggest smiler, either. I only smile if I really mean it. People fake-smile.

‘People will just smile because they think it’s the thing to do, whereas I don’t. So I think people just find me a bit cold. But I’m not.

‘Because I’ve heard it my whole life, it’s always sat with me, but actually, as I’m getting older, I really own that because I’m like, I don’t need to be all over everyone and love everyone immediately.’

Charley continued: ‘It does take me a minute and I’m very like, yes or no.

‘I’m so black and white: I like you, I don’t like you. There’s never an in-between with me.’

Charley also emphasised the importance of self-understanding, particularly as awareness around the condition grows.

She said: ‘It’s so important for people to understand themselves. And I think as we’re getting older, it’s becoming more of a thing now.

‘Years and years ago, nobody talked about it. There was never a discussion about ADHD or any of that sort of stuff.

She added: ‘But now it’s like everywhere. But I think it is really important to understand that. And noise for me – the trigger of noise. I go from nought to 60 in like one second.

‘All those loud noises, if I go somewhere really busy, I find it so overwhelming. So I will be interested to look further into that.

‘It’s something that’s within you, isn’t it? It’s something that is genetic. Like ADHD, for instance, one parent would have to have it in order for a child to have it.’

It comes after Charley and her husband Matthew Wolfenden shocked fans after they announced their split back in 2023, after 15 years together and five years of marriage. 

It was the actress who called it quits on the relationship, and earlier this year, Daily Mail revealed why she reportedly decided it would be best for the two Emmerdale stars to go their separate ways. 

At the time of their split, Charley had left behind her role as Debbie Dingle in Emmerdale and was embarking on her first stage tour as Diana Ingram in Quiz.

Amid rave reviews, it was reportedly the new career accomplishment which made Charley reexamine her life and make the life-changing decision. 

An insider told The Sun: ‘It was the first time in years she was fully herself again, not mum, not Debbie – but a stage actress.

‘There was a lot of downtime when she was on her own, and she really had a chance to think about what she wanted from her life.’ 

Meanwhile, Matthew was back at the couple’s home in Yorkshire, looking after their children, Buster, 15, Bowie, eight, and Ace, four, before getting ready to head to London with the stage version of Elf.

It was during this production that he met his now girlfriend, Heather Scott Martin and their relationship was later assumed to be the reason behind the split. 

The insider added: ”It was incredibly hard for Matthew because people saw him with Heather and assumed he was behind the split. He kept a dignified silence at the time and only decided to speak out about it all much later on.’

Following the split, the couple kept their house for another year before putting it on the market for £900,000 in January this year. 

Meanwhile, Charley moved in with fellow actress and best pal Sheridan Smith.

Sheridan, 44, shares a son, Billy, with her former fiancé, Jamie Horn, and recently split from her boxer boyfriend, Dave Ryan.