Denise: “I’ll still be posting bikini selfies at 90!”
Denise Welch reveals how conquering her demons and taking back control of her body has made her feel happier and than ever
Turning 60 maybe daunting T for some, but actress Denise Welch insists she’s relishing the prospect of celebrating with a cheeky bikini selfie. The age-defying TV star has often sparked social media storms by showcasing her figure on Twitter and Instagram – and defiant Denise insists she’ll never stop.
She says, “I’ll be still posting bikini pictures when I’m 70 – no, make that 90! The reason I put out the bikini pictures is not to say, ‘Look at me!’ – it’s to say, ‘Don’t tell me I can’t wear a bikini!’ I get an amazing response from women. There’s the odd bodyshamer saying horrible things, but I just block them or kill them with kindness.”
But she admits to despairing of the endless feed of heavily Photoshopped celebrities on social media. She says, “It’s insane! I’ve never had a waist – it would be ridiculous to try to create one – but some of these girls post ridiculous pictures that aren’t realistic and look nothing like them in real life.
SAVED BY WILLPOWER
“I’ve got a tummy, a bum and cellulite, but I don’t think I look bad for an old bird!”
In the flesh, Denise looks tanned, trim and healthy. After quitting booze in 2012, the 5ft 4 actress swapped one addiction for another and gained 2st as she binged on sugary treats, going up to 11st 5lbs. But she credits her subsequent weight loss, body confidence and maintaining her enviable figure to following the Lighter Life 5:2 diet plan and embarking on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which has transformed her relationship with food.
“Without a doubt I’m feeling better mentally and physically approaching 60 than I did when I was turning 50 or even 40,” says Denise, who keeps fit by jogging and doing yoga sessions with third husband, artist Lincoln Townley, 45. “I’m no spring chicken, but I’m feeling happy about my age – I think it’s because I’ve gone through such dark points in my life that I can really appreciate what it means to have got here.
“I’m not going to pretend to be a poster girl for someone who feels 100 per cent happy with their body all of the time. Like everyone, I have good days and bad. But I’m feeling happy in my skin and in control of my body and weight.”
After swapping her self-destructive lifestyle for clean living, exercise and therapy, she’s never been happier, and her relationship with Lincoln, whom she married in 2013, is stronger than ever. Along with self-confessed alcoholic Lincoln, they quit booze six years ago.
“Everyone else thought Lincoln and I would not survive it, but I always knew that if we took the madness out of our lives, we would have a great relationship. And we do,” she says. “Sheer willpower, the love of a good man and my wonderful family saved my life. I feel happier than ever – but the one thing I don’t have control of is my mental illness.”
The star has suffered from severe clinical depression since the birth of her eldest son, Matt, 29, and has admitted the crippling disease “robbed her of her ability to love” at times. After years of self-medicating with alcohol, Denise says while her clean-living lifestyle means the bouts of depression are not as prolonged as before, she accepts she’ll never be free of them. “I’ll live with mental illness until the day I die,” she confesses. “Even when I’m at my happiest, my depression comes from nowhere. The last bout I had was on holiday in January when I was sitting on a beach in Grenada.
DEALING WITH DEPRESSION
“I get a tingling in my palms and a metallic taste in my mouth and I know it’s on its way. The depression can descend within minutes and is very hard to explain – it’s like a shift in the atmosphere.”
She adds, “The depression lasted four days, but lots of TLC from my family got me through. They hate seeing me poorly, but now I’m no longer self-medicating with alcohol or
food, the episodes are shorter-lived.”
Denise, mum to sons Matt, frontman in band The 1975, and aspiring actor Louis, 17, from her marriage to Benidorm star Tim Healy – with whom she’s still good friends – admits her greatest achievement in overhauling her lifestyle is the impact on family life.
“If you have addiction issues, everyone you love lives in constant fear,” she explains. “Now that is taken away from them so I feel I’ve set everyone free. They can get on with their lives and don’t have to worry about their mum.”
READY FOR CHANGE
When asked if she’s worried about son Matt falling victim to drink or drug problems, which can be rife within the music industry, she says, “Matt’s far too talented to ruin things – my boys have seen first-hand what it can do. I’m so proud of how they’ve handled it.”
With a new book coming out in the summer and a nine-month theatre tour in Calendar Girls on the horizon, Denise is ready for the next chapter of her life.
“I don’t see myself as old,” she says. “My greatest life lesson is that even if you’ve made bad choices in the past, it’s never too late to change and turn your life around.”
Denise lost 2st in two months on Lighterlife Total and maintains with Lighterlife Fast 5:2. Visit www.lighterlife.com