DENISE WELCH: ‘Life is brilliant’
We catch up with Denise Welch, 58, who plays the gently sadistic Pam in “transgender sitcom” Boy Meets Girl – the comedy likened to Gavin and Stacey
In Boy Meets Girl, you play a mum I who’s unhappy her son Leo [Harry Hepple] is in a romance with Judy [Rebecca Root] – who was born a man. What sort of reaction have you had from the public?
I haven’t had one single negative comment. One person emailed me a wonderful story about how this woman had never come out to her mum as transgender. Then they sat and watched Boy Meets Girl together – the woman burst into tears and admitted: “Mum, I’m transgender!” That was really quite emotional.
Were you all happy to get a second series?
We were thrilled. But after Pam said to Leo in series one, “But you’re marrying a f ***** g bloke,” I was thinking we can’t have her banging on like that, so now Pam has immersed herself in the transgender community…
We last saw you playing the mum of another trans character – Kyle in Eastenders (played by Riley Carter Millington)…
I did say: “You do know I’ve just finished filming Boy Meets Girl, don’t you?” It just shows how far we’ve come that I’m involved in two transgender storylines.
After that one episode, people were calling for you to land a full-time role on the Square…
The reaction was very flattering and completely astounding. But it’s also like: “Whoa! I’ve done one episode and, as far as I know, that’s all it is.” If they come up with something for me I’ll grab it with both hands, but I have no idea about the future of that.
You took to Twitter to talk about visiting LA, would you consider a move across the pond?
We [Denise and her husband of three years, artist Lincoln Townley] love LA. I’ve got lots of friends there – Carla Romano, Ross King, [Dallas star] Charlene Tilton and my Dancing On Ice partner Matt Evers. My son Matty [Matthew Healy from band The 1975] was playing at the Shrine Auditorium, so I got this big group of people to go to watch him. Matthew Marsden [who played Chris Collins in Corrie] walked in and laughed: “Are you the mayor of Hollywood now?!”
You also posted a snap with Jared Leto from [music festival] Coachella in May. Tell us more…
Jared Leto doesn’t know me from a bar of soap. He must have picked up his Twitter and thought, “Who the hell is Denise Welch?” That snap of him and me was all over Twitter and even Sky News! It was taken while we were both watching The 1975, I knew he was a fan of the band so said: “I’m Matt’s mum,” and so we had a picture taken.
And you look fab in a bikini…
I’m the ambassador for Lighterlife and it’s important for me to maintain my weight – that’s why I put the odd bikini picture out. I’m not showing off, I want people to think, “She’s pushing 60 and she’s got a bikini on – why shouldn’t I wear one?” I don’t put any filter on the photos either, so you can see I’ve got lumps and bumps.
Congratulations on being four years sober as well…
Lincoln’s been sober for the same amount of time and it’s the best thing we ever did. I love my sobriety and wouldn’t give it up for the world. I’ve got friends who say: “I should really stop drinking,” and I said: “No, if you just get drunk at weekends you don’t have to give up.” Lincoln and I are alcoholics, so drinking occasionally doesn’t work for us, and having a partner doing it with you makes a world of difference. The way our life is now – uncluttered with excess – is just brilliant. Boy Meets Girl, Wednesdays, 10pm, BBC2