Loose Women star Denise Welch is set to make a triumphant return to the BBC’s high school drama Waterloo Road where she will reprise her role as French teacher Steph Haydock

Denise Welch is going back to school – as the French teacher at Waterloo Road Comprehensive School.

The 66-year-old Loose Women star appeared on the hit BBC series from 2006 to 2010 playing lingual expert Steph Haydock. The series was pulled off the air in 2015 after the conclusion of the 10th season of the show. But it was then revived in 2023.

The creators of the show are preparing to make the 15th season of the show after the 2024 season reached a climax last month. And fans can expect to see Denise back in character and in the classrooms of the smash show.

Denise – who only appeared in the first six seasons of Waterloo Road during its original run – has acted in other soaps in the past. She played Natalie Barnes in Coronation Street from 1997 to 2000 and she has previously explained that she considers herself something of a pioneer in the performing arts as she’s been able to work both as an actress and a lunchtime talk show star.

She originally starred on the show from 2006 to 2010 ( 
Image:
BBC)

Of her return to Waterloo Road, a source told The Sun: “Waterloo Road fans love a comeback, particularly when it is someone of Denise’s calibre. The character is certainly one which will live long in the memory of devotees, and it’s an absolute no brainer to have her return.” The Mirror has contacted representatives of Denise and the BBC for comment.

Denise previously told OX Magazine that she hated that people wouldn’t take her seriously as an actress because her career as a Loose Women star had overshadowed her acting. She said: “It’s very difficult in this country to be taken seriously in more than one genre; I’ve tried to cross those boundaries over. I remember Eamonn Holmes saying, ‘I can’t think of another person that’s doing an acting job and a presenting job on telly at the same time.’ That stuck with me, I felt there was a little breakthrough there.”

She also explained that she has been landing bigger parts since she entered her 50s – after being dismissed for roles in her youth. She said: “[I prefer roles] where you come on in Act Two as the maid and steal the show. That’s how I always was in my younger days; I always wanted to play the character roles I was too young for. So yes, there is that.”

Denise has been a panellist on Loose Women for decades – but previously admitted she will quit the minute she finds the show too stressful to deal with. She told Bella magazine last year: “In the 21 years I’ve done this show, I have never, ever. ever had an actual argument with anybody on that show. I can go hammer and tongs with them on set, but nothing afterwards, if it was a toxic environment, I wouldn’t work there. I don’t need to. I’m 65, I don’t need the stress…. I’d be out like a shot if I felt anxiety about going into a job,” and then insisting that the workplace – which has been rocked by rumours of backstage bitching in the past – is “very supportive”