If you ask me, Denise Welch is a national treasure.
From her days as sassy Natalie Barnes on Coronation Street to her role as Loose Women's most no-nonsense panellist, Denise, 65, has been a constant on our TV screens for decades.
Not content with entertaining the nation with hilarious anecdotes from her celebrity lifestyle, Denise is on a mission to end the stigma that surrounds mental health, frequently speaking openly about the clinical depression that plagued her for 35 years.
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockShe's also an advocate for doing whatever you like, no matter your age. Now in her mid-sixties, Denise's Instagram is a hotbed of showstopping swimwear photos and her approach to the sultry snaps is incredibly refreshing.
"I take my swimwear photos for women, not men," Denise tells HELLO!. "Every time I share a swimsuit photo, I get so many messages from women telling me it made them feel confident enough to wear a bikini. That's why I take the photos."
Keen to dispel the notion that women over a certain age are "too old" to wear a bikini, Denise says: "Women are always being told we shouldn't do things past a certain point, but I'll keep doing this for as long as I feel good. I'll stay in my bikini until I'm 97, or until I pop my clogs, as long as I feel good in it.
"I want to look as good as I can, for as long as I can," she adds.
© InstagramFeeling good at 65
Denise joyfully points out, "I feel better in my sixties than I did in my forties," explaining that after years of clinical depression, which began when her first son was born in 1989, she hasn't had an episode since 2019.
She attributes this to her hormones balancing themselves post-menopause, sharing that before this spell, she never went longer than 17 months without a mental health episode.
© Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock"For 30 years I lived in fear, I would wake up every morning and before I even got out of bed I was wondering if depression was going to make an appearance that day.
"I had an inner dialogue going on for years, but I no longer wake up worried about depression. I'm not living in fear, so my sixties are one of my favourite decades yet."
A sense of freedom
As well as freedom from the daily fear of depression, Denise is also feeling free for a more light-hearted reason. She's recently undergone lens replacement surgery, restoring her eyesight to above 20:20 vision, meaning she can do away with the contact lenses she never got on with and her glasses she could never seem to keep clean.
"Ruth Langsford and I were chatting during a break in filming, and she told me she'd had her lens replacement surgery with Optegra, and it was life-changing – and she was right.
"It only took eight minutes per eye, it was pain-free, I chatted to the surgeon throughout and now I can see perfectly. There's such a sense of freedom of being able to see as soon as I wake up. Two days after surgery I was back filming Loose Women, and the only issue was I couldn't wear eye makeup for a few weeks."
Loving relationship
Denise's husband, Lincoln Townley, was on hand to care for her on the day of her surgery, and she credits their strong relationship for her happiness in midlife.
© Tristan Fewings"I have friends who feel that now that their kids have moved out, they're nobody's 'number one'," Denise says of the empty nest syndrome which can set in for many parents when their kids leave home.
"I'm so lucky that even though I'm not number one to my sons anymore, I am still number one to Lincoln. I have an incredibly happy marriage, and that really helps me."
Of her close relationship with her sons, Matty and Louis Healy, Denise notes: "My kids love, adore and worship me, but their partners are their number ones – as they should be."
© InstagramSpeaking of her experience of empty nest syndrome, Denise recalls that after 10 years of Matty and his band, The 1975, practicing in her garage at home, the band suddenly took off and when he hit 23, they were gone.
READ: Inside Matty Healy and Denise Welch's 'insanely close' relationship: rare family photos
"Suddenly the madness stopped, and I missed it," Denise reminisces, adding: "It's always been different for me because I'm all over the place with work, and now Matthew is in LA, and Louis is in London - but I'm in an incredible marriage, so I realise how fortunate I am."
As we say our goodbyes, I'm left feeling inspired by Denise. Not just because of her confidence, but for her commitment to making life easier for other women, whether that's through empowering others in their sixties to wear whatever they like, to opening the discussion around mental health. She's a force to be reckoned with – and long may that continue.
