Loose Women aired a special show to highlight their campaign Facing It Together, and Denise Welch opened up about suffering domestic abuse in a past relationship

Denise Welch described her heartbreaking experiences in a past relationship during an emotional moment on Loose Women today. The ITV star joined Kéllé Bryan in sharing their stories of domestic abuse, as part of the show’s campaign Facing It Together.

During the special episode, Denise, 66 – who has been happily married to Lincoln Townley – detailed an abusive relationship she suffered through before becoming a household name.

“I fell in love with this incredibly charismatic man, very, very good-looking, and I thought that my whole life had aligned and this was the person for me,” she said.

Unfortunately, things began to change. “And then, of course, you don’t realise what’s happening, so he started to chip, chip, chip away at my personality,” she said of the gradual process.

“Personality traits that I thought made me quite popular suddenly became detrimental, and he would say things like, ‘You know your friends aren’t laughing with you, they’re laughing at you. You know, when you told that joke that they all laughed at, why did you tell that joke? It was rude. You know they were all rolling their eyes at each other,’ and you start to slowly believe.”

Denise is now in a loving marriage, but she went through a horrifying journey with a man with narcissistic personality disorder(Image: SCU)

The Dancing on Ice star added: “What they do is as well, is that they very, very often have a dysfunctional family of their own. And this is sort of a part of narcissistic personality disorder. And because I was close to my family, bearing in mind probably three phone calls a week from a call box, because we didn’t have mobile phones, I was obsessed with my family. And so they very slowly start to bring you apart.

Denise then shared how the man turned his own toxic traits back on her, explaining: “Also the jealousy that comes, which is unbelievable, is because it’s your fault.” She quoted: “‘If I didn’t love you so much – it’s because I love you so much that you make me like this.’

“So an example of that, before I was on the telly, nobody knew who I was, we were sat in a restaurant together and I was facing the door. The door opened and a couple walked in, and we just made eye contact, so I smiled at them and they smiled at me.”

Recalling her ex’s reaction, Denise described: “He saw, he turned around and he looked at the guy, and I’m not going to say exactly what he said, but the table went up and he said, ‘You want to… my wife, right?’ Well not my wife, my girlfriend.

After being asked how the relationship made her feel, Denise shared: “I was – you can imagine that any normal person listening to that story would say, ‘Why did you not just leave?’

“But you are so desperate to change that person, and they make you feel like you are the centre of their life. And the other thing is… it’s very easy to say ‘Why don’t you leave.’ But basically they are incredibly manipulative.”

The actress added that she’d just watched an upcoming documentary about narcissistic personality disorder, and revealed what she’d learned from it. “Their desire to hurt that person overrides any fear of the law, any fear of anything. Their buzz, as it were, comes from their desire to hurt,” Denise noted.

Denise shared her story as part of a special show marking one year since the launch of Facing It Together, and also spoke with survivors of domestic abuse to encourage others to keep hope and find help.

Anyone affected by Domestic Abuse can call the helpline 0808 2000 247 but anyone in immediate danger needs to phone 999.