Denise Welch has revealed she suffered a breakdown earlier this year as she battled an eating addiction after giving up alcohol.
In an emotional interview on Lorraine, the former Coronation Street actress opened up about her battle with depression and mental health.
Denise said that after she quit alcohol in 2012, she struggled with dark periods which she described as “losing the colour from your life”.
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She told host Christine Lampard: “I had a breakdown at the beginning of this year, I have sporadic episodes of depression anyway, but depression isn’t always bought on by circumstance.
“I was sitting on a beach in Grenada with my husband [Lincoln Townley] and I felt my illness coming on me, it’s like losing the colour from your life.”
Speaking about her struggle with anxiety, she continued: “I was in a very bad place, but I refer to it as an unwelcome visitor, he will always leave.
“It’s a battle we’ll never win because it has control. It’s just learning about how to manage the episodes better.
“I live a much healthier life so I can fight it full-on. At 60 I’ve learned to look after myself.”
Denise also spoke about the struggles she had with an eating addiction.
She explained: “When I gave up alcohol I started to develop what could have turned into an eating addiction and so I had to address that.
“I did a plan of eating that I stick to today. I have no aspiration to be a size 8, I’m a healthy size 12, at 60 I feel better mentally and physically.”
Denise has been very open about her battle with mental health and depression.
She’s previously revealed she made the decision to get sober after she drunkenly smashed up the flat she shared with Lincoln, whom she married in 2013.
Denise told Christine that she’s written a new novel and is also starring in Calendar Girls: The Musical.
Her new book, The Mother’s Bond, tells the tale of a mother whose world is turned upside-down when the son she gave up for adoption comes back into her life.
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Denise said: “I’ve always been fascinated by adoption, many years ago when I was a kid my uncle adopted two babies, I was fascinated how they were hand-picked to come into my family.
“I’m obsessed with this story. I am not adopted, not all adoption stories end up like Long Lost Family, it doesn’t end like that, but these are all fictitious characters.”
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