Denise Welch has expressed her upset after an article published by Sunderland Echo spoke about the time she broke COVID-19 regulations to visit her father and suggested she tweets chasing likes "from a small but vocal anti-vax community".
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Taking to Twitter, the Loose Women star admitted that while this was something she "normally wouldn't comment on", the article left her feeling "upset" after the journalist "completely twisted everything I stand for".
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"He labels me an anti-vaxxer. I am vaccinated, pro-vax but against mandates as anyone who follows me knows," she wrote.
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"As a 33yr long mental health advocate, I have tried for the past 2 yrs to balance the constant anxiety-inducing fear-mongering from a lockdown obsessed media."
Denise broke COVID-19 rules to visit her dad who died nine months later
She continued: "Regarding my beloved dad. I publicly said I broke lockdown rules Christmas of 2020 to see my dad & I was glad as it turned out to be his last one. He took ill AFTER this."
She later explained she was "denied access to my very vulnerable dad for 3 weeks in hospital, fully vaccinated, the nurses told me they didn't know why as there was very little Covid there at the time."
Ending her powerful explanation, she added: "This all matters to me as I am sick of lazy journalists twisting what I say. I love Sunderland. The hospital there cared for my late mum. I'm a proud patron of @stbenedicts1984 hospice. I care that the people of this town will believe the lies he's told. That's all."
The Loose Women panellist defended herself on Twitter
Nine months after breaking the rules to spend Christmas with her father, Denise announced his sad death.
At the time, the 63-year-old shared a poignant photo showing her clasping her father's hand.
She wrote: "The words I've dreaded saying all of my life. Last night at 11pm, we lost our dad, the life force that was Vin Welch. After making a miraculous recovery recently from major surgeries, pneumonia plus his existing pulmonary fibrosis was more than even he could take."
She also paid tribute to the nurses at Durham University Hospital, who cared for him until his death.