Loose Women’s Denise Welch has confirmed she will be popping up in Emmerdale this month – making her the first actress to have appeared in all four of the big UK soaps

First look at Denise Welch in Emmerdale in scenes to be aired this Christmas(Image: ITV/Mark Bruce)

Loose Women star Denise Welch has confirmed she has landed a role in Emmerdale.

The 66-year-old actress is shown in first look images released by the iconic ITV soap that is set in the Yorkshire Dales. Her character Heidi will be linked to soap villain Tom King as he finally appears in court over his domestic abuse of wife Belle Dingle. But will he be sent down or will he get away with it?

Viewers will have to tune in to find out, but giving fans a few spoilers ahead of her upcoming role, Denise excitedly told the audience and her fellow Loose Women panellists: “I’m going to be in Emmerdale!”

She said: “It’s a one-off one hour special and it’s the first time Emmerdale have ever done it. And for those of you who are fans of Emmerdale, there is a very powerful year-long story of domestic abuse. Which of course, appealed to me when I knew I’d be part of it because of our Facing It Together campaign, and this is a culmination of that story.”

Denise as character Heidi, who has a huge role in villain Tom King’s storyline(Image: ITV/Mark Bruce)

Denise continued: “The episode takes place exclusively between the court and the jury and I am one of the head’s of the jury called Heidi. Obviously, I can’t say what the outcome is, but it’s a very, very powerful episode and some of the lines are taken from true cases. Refuge have seen it and they’re thrilled with how it’s been depicted so it was incredible to be a part of it, and that’s on I think December 19.”

Landing the role is a career milestone for Denise – who has already appeared in Coronation Street, EastEnders and Hollyoaks. Her role in Emmerdale apparently makes her a ‘CHEE’. She gushed: “So I’ve now been in all four soaps.” which earned a round of cheers from the audience.

Explaining what it means, Denise added: “‘I saw on social media that I’m now a CHEE and that’s because it’s quite something in America to be an EGOT, which is the winner of an Emmy, a Grammy, and Oscar and a Tony. So not quite that level, but Corrie, Hollyoaks, EastEnders, and Emmerdale.”

Denise in her first soap role as Natalie Barnes in Coronation Street in the 90s(Image: Granada TV)

She later appeared in EastEnders as transgender character Kyle’s mum, Alison Slater(Image: BBC)

Though there are some stars who have appeared in multiple British soaps, Denise is thought to be the first star to have appeared in all four of the current big ones. An actress from the age of 12, Denise got her big break on ITV series Soldier, Soldier in 1993, but it was her role as Rovers barmaid Natalie Barnes that made her a household name.

She played Natalie from 1997 to 2000. Her time in Corrie saw her have an affair with Kevin Webster while he was married to Sally, marry Des Barnes and later become the landlady of the Rovers Return. Her exit saw her flee Wetherfield pregnant with Rovers potman Vinny Sorrel’s baby. But Vinny was having an affair with her sister Debs and they ran off together to start a new life. In 2001, it was revealed Natalie had given birth to a daughter called Laura and was living in the Cotswolds with her cousin Helen.

In real life, Denise was pregnant with her son Louis, who is also an actor. She is also mum to Matty Healy, frontman of rock band The 1975. Denise later went on to star as transgender character Kyle’s mum, Alison Slater, in BBC’s EastEnders in 2016. And she played Trish Minniver in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks from 2021 to 2022.