Loose Women panellist Denise Welch has paid a lovely tribute to her son, The 1975 musician Matty Healy, in honour of his 30th birthday on Monday. Taking to her social media sites, the former actress shared a collage of childhood throwback snaps of her eldest son. "Happy 30th birthday Matty. We are all so proud of you," she wrote on Instagram, while adding on Twitter: "Happy 30th birthday to my firstborn. You changed my life and went on to change many others. I love you Matty."
Matty is the eldest son of Denise and Auf Wiedersehen Pet star Tim Healy. The former couple were married for 24 years before their divorce in 2012. Since their split, the two have remained on the very best of terms for the sake of their sons, Matty and Louis Healy, who turned 18 last month. Tim, 67, also took to Twitter to post a lovely picture, along with the message: "Happy birthday son doing the twist to chubby checker love ya dad xxx" [sic]
READ: Denise Welch pays emotional tribute after The 1975 son wins at the BRITs
The 1975 star Matty was born in London, but was raised in Manchester. The lead singer and his bandmates Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald and George Daniel formed the group after meeting at Wilmslow High School in Cheshire in 2002. In February, the band won two major awards at the BRITs; Best British Group and Best British Album. Although Matty has famous parents, the family make a conscious effort not to discuss each other's lives in interviews.
MORE: Denise Welch shares rare photo of her son - and he is following in her footsteps!
However, Denise has previously revealed how proud she is of her son. "I was very thrilled and proud that he told me about it - I was extremely proud of him for talking about it," she said of her son's former drug addiction on Loose Women. "Matty has decided to publicly speak about it because the way he writes songs, he will be writing about his battle with drugs in there. I'm incredibly proud of him, he's completely clean now… he's a wonderful young man, a wonderful son and a wonderful brother… I'm very proud he's decided to tell his truth."
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