EXCLUSIVE: Denise Welch has opened up about transforming her life and losing two stone following a concern which was flagged by a doctor after the actress suffered a fall

Denise Welch has opened up about her incredible transformation, which continues to shape her life

Denise Welch has revealed the moment she decided to undergo a dramatic overhaul of her life. The Loose Women broadcaster and actress has spoken openly about her life and how she had previously battled with alcohol. Speaking candidly, she revealed that going sober 13 years ago was the “best decision” she and her husband, Lincoln Townley, had ever made.

But after ditching alcohol, which she says was a “momentous point” in their lives, she later realised that she realised she may be swapping alcohol for food addiction due to an “addictive personality”. Denise revealed to the Mirror: “I very quickly realised that I was in danger of swapping alcohol addiction for food addiction.”

The Waterloo Road star went don’t to say that “all of the bad things” in her life had kept her slim without her trying – including alcohol and depression. “That stops me from eating when I’m having an episode, suddenly, the alcohol and the bad things were taken out of my life, I realised I was starting to replace alcohol with food,” she said.

Actress and broadcaster Denise Welch has opened up about her transformation(Image: lighterlife.com)

Denise, 66, went on to explain that she found herself “bingeing” and eating “way past” her full point, but it was never enough. She revealed she had started secretly eating, heading to the kitchen for food, and hiding chocolate. But she later realised that she didn’t need to hide it from her family, as her husband, Lincoln and youngest, Hotel Portofino star son, Louis, didn’t care.

“Nobody cared – so why am I doing everything so secretly? Guiltily, like I used to drink,” she said. After Lincoln proposed to Denise, she realised she had put on two stones in “not a very long time”. She explained that while she realised some people often look to lose a significant amount of weight, the two stone to her was a great deal.

Explaining, she said: “It wasn’t just how aesthetically it made me look, because I carry a lot of my weight on my face, so it becomes very noticeable. I’m on television several times a week – and that’s not a very flattering medium, so I was aware of it there but it was also the fact I’ve never been super fit but I was aware it was impairing my breathing.”

But the realisation hit Denise while she was appearing in a theatre production in Kingston with Keith Allen. Recalling the moment, she said: “I tripped and fell on Kingston Bridge. I went to see this knee doctor and he said, ‘You’ve got osteoarthritis and you need to lose weight’. I thought ‘my God, I didn’t think I had that much of a problem’, the breathing and stuff was due to a sleep apnea problem that wasn’t caused by, but isn’t helped by, weight gain.”

The Loose Women star revealed that the programme completely changed her life(Image: lighterlife.com)

Denise explained that after discussing her plans to lose weight for her wedding, she was “inundated” by diet firms to front their campaigns. But it was a decision she made with Lincoln, who was also keen on losing weight. They decided on LighterLife as it was the only weight loss company which spoke about changing the relationship with food.

The company, for which Denise is an ambassador, uses mental approaches, such as CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), group therapy or mentorship, and physical approaches. At first, she admits being wary about going to the group therapy as she didn’t want “all eyes” to be her but it was Lincoln who encouraged her to go along.

“I’m ever so grateful that I did, that first meeting changed my life,” she exclaimed. Although she says she would have lost weight in other ways, she admits she may have “piled it back on”, due to being a human whose weight fluctuates throughout life. “I always know that I’ve got the tools, the CBT tools to get me back on board,” she said, explaining that there are four processes that she can put in place.

Denise realised she needed to make a change after suffering a fall and being diagnosed with osteoarthritis (Image: Getty Images)

After losing the two stone, Denise used her CBT skills to pack smoking in, something she took up when she was 16. She explained: “By applying the same CBT techniques to cigarettes, and that helped me, come off those as well. So they are treasured tools.” Denise has been a LighterLife ambassador for 13 years and still checks in with her doctor, Dr Kelly. “I have seen LighterLife and the mentors not only change people’s lives, but people’s lives,” she explained before adding: “I am a fervent believer that this works.”

Although Denise admits she has no medical experience, she believes that LighterLife does work, having seen firsthand how thousands of people have benefited from it. She often carries some of the LighterLife food around with her due to her hectic work schedule, with her favourite being the porridge and salted caramel chocolate bars. “I would say to give it a try and the help of working with these trained mentors who are there for you is life changing, it’s an incredible, supportive community,” she explained.

Each food pack is filled with “every mineral and every vitamin” that you may need. Over Christmas, Denise experienced a spell of poor mental and physical health, which impaired her appetite. “What I did was, I was using the LighterLife products to feel better, to know I was getting everything I needed,” she said before explaining that while it maintains her weight, she can often engage in a “total programme”.

“I live an actor’s life, we live a sort of sandwich lifestyle, we’re up and down, grabbing this and grabbing that,” acknowledging that she may not always get her five a day or vital minerals and vitamins. She added: “So at least I know that if I’m having the late night products, then, and I’m some way towards achieving that.”

Meanwhile, Denise’s doctor, Dr Kelly, shed light on the rising topic of diets on social media. She said: “The problem with social media weight loss trends is that often they’re not nutritionally complete, not effective nor sustainable, and often they can be downright dangerous.