Denise Welch broke down in tears on Thursday’s Loose Women when the panel was discussing a viral photo of a 79-year-old man sitting alone in Wetherspoons who was unable to buy himself a drink because he did not have the chain’s app on his phone.
Denise, 62, revealed her father Vin is currently in a Newcastle hospital, and he, too, struggles with technology.
Starting to cry, the presenter said: ‘My dad is in hospital in Newcastle. It’s been really, really tough, but all of these things have added to the fact that he can’t under [breaks off] – the technology is going at such a rate. I can’t keep up with it. I can’t bear it anymore.’
Sad: Denise Welch broke down in tears on Thursday’s Loose Women as she revealed her father Vin is currently in hospital
Being quick to offer her support, Denise’s Loose Women co-star Kaye Adams said: ‘We know how special your dad is to you.’
A photo of an elderly Wetherspoons customer went viral this week after a fellow punter revealed he had bought the man two pints of lager after he struggled to order a beer because he didn’t have the app to place his order.
Mark Farrier said he felt compelled to help the ‘old fella’ after watching him sitting alone at an empty table at the pub in Cardiff on Monday.
The 39-year-old father-of-three said the ‘old boy’, who had dressed up and polished his shoes for the outing, was unable to be served without the app until Mr Farrier used his own phone.
Candid: Starting to cry, the presenter said: ‘My dad is in hospital in Newcastle. It’s been really, really tough’
It comes after Denise revealed she once wished a plane crash would kill her and her baby son Matthew Healy as she battled severe post-natal depression.
Speaking last month, Denise told how she was struck with a sudden depressive episode before she boarded a flight to Australia with her one-year-old child – who is now the frontman of pop rock band, The 1975.
Denise admitted that when the plane was up in the air, she ‘wished that the plane would go down’ so she would be ‘out of this pain’.
Speaking on the Zombiemum podcast with host Laura Dockrill, 34, Denise said she had the thought when she decided to take her baby son to visit her then husband, Tim Healy, who was filming for the BBC in Australia at the time.
Update: Sharing an update on her dad last month month, Denise told how he’s now at home with her, and explained he’s been going ‘downhill’ since Christmas (pictured together in 1998)
Kind: Denise’s tears came on the show after a hoto of an elderly Wetherspoons customer went viral – a fellow punter revealed he had bought the man two pints of lager after he struggled to order a beer because he didn’t have the app to place his order
She said: ‘The night before I went, this massive depression came on. I cannot tell you what it was like to go the airport and get on that plane with this depression.
‘When I was in the air – I told Matthew this years later when he was a grown up, I would never have put this on any child – I wished that the plane would go down.
‘In my mind, I wished that it would, because then I wouldn’t have made the decision.
‘It was the point I wanted something out of my control and I thought, “Why doesn’t it just go down and then I will be out of this pain”. Now I can’t believe I had those thoughts.’
Speaking out: Denise revealed last month that she once wished a plane crash would kill her and her baby son Matthew Healy as she battled severe post-natal depression
Tough: The Loose Women star told how she was struck with a sudden depressive episode before she boarded a flight to Australia with her son Matthew when he was aged one – 31 yeare ago – (pictured with sons Matthew Healy, right, and Louis, left, back in 2015)
Her son Matthew, now 32, wrote about the incident in an emotional The 1975 song ‘She Lays Down’ that tackles the subject of his mother’s depression.
He penned the lyrics: ‘Well we got a plane, going to see my dad again/ She prayed that we fell from the sky/ Simply to immediate the pain.’
Denise has spoken openly about a number of issues she has had and reflected on her 32-year ‘endogenous’ depression battle in a candid interview earlier this year.
Speaking on The Hot Mess Mums Club podcast with Kelly Pegg and Jenny Powell, she also spoke about her new role as Trish Minniver on Hollyoaks.
Reflecting on her life during the chat, the former Coronation Street star bravely spoke about her battle with clinical depression.
Denise said that her depression started in 1989 after she welcomed her eldest child, which she said was the ‘best and worst’ year of her life.
Emotional: Her son Matthew, now 32, wrote about the incident in a The 1975 song ‘She Lays Down’ that tackles the subject of his mother’s depression
The actress, who also has son Louis, 20, with ex-husband Tim Healy, 69, said: ‘I always said that this has happened twice in my life. 1989 when I had Matthew, was the best and the worst year of my life.
‘The best, because obviously I had Matthew and he is the best thing that ever happened to me, along with Louis, but also because it was the start of my 32-year battle with clinical depression.’
Denise admitted that 2020 has also been the ‘best and worst’ for her due to the pandemic but she is grateful that her last episode of major depression was 2019.
She continued: ‘2020 is very similar, the best and the worst. The worst because we have been plunged into this dystopian hell, and especially for those of us who have children we worry about how it will affect them.
‘And, the best because the last episode of major depression for me was in September 2019 and this is the longest, I have gone without a major depressive episode.
‘So, the whole of 2020, and for those people who think that depression is completely related to circumstances, it’s not. Mine is endogenous, but I have been emotional and in floods of tears.
‘I’ve been sad, I’ve been anxious which is a completely normal reaction to the circumstances, but I have not had major depression.’
Denise added that 30 years later, people are now encouraged to speak about their mental health but that there is still a ‘long way to go’.
It’s been a difficult time of late for Denise, as she’s been caring for her sick father Vin, 84, after he had ‘a bit of a fall’ in March.
Sharing an update on his condition in April, Denise told how he’s now at home with her, and explained he’s been going ‘downhill’ since Christmas.
‘At Christmas he had a big meal and he had indigestion and instead of it going away it’s triggered some gallstone issues, and he’s just gone downhill since then,’ explained Denise.
Speaking to Entertainment Daily about his recovery, Denise said: ‘I think they’re going to remove his gallbladder but we’re just trying to keep his strength up until then but it’s hard because he’s got no appetite.’
Despite his being unwell and unable to eat, Denise shared that he was in no pain.
‘The weird thing is he hasn’t got the pain. It’s some weird thing going on, but the fact is he can’t eat anything. Dad’s 84 and that’s why I don’t want him to lose any more weight,’ the mother-of-two added.
The media personality also spoke sweetly of her dad’s ‘party animal’ nature, continuing: ‘It’s really a shame, anybody who knows my dad knows he’s a party animal – he out-parties me at every stage, although that’s not hard now because obviously I’m sober.’
Speaking via videolink to the Loose Women, Denise explained that she and her sister were sharing the care for their dad Vin.
She told her colleagues: ‘My dad Vin, friend of the show, has not been well since Christmas. He’s got to have a gallbladder operation. He had a bit of a fall the other night.
‘So my sister and I are sharing care for him at the moment.
‘I drove up hastily to see him. And he wants everybody to know that he’s alright, but it was a bit of a shock to the system.’
She went on: ‘So I’m coming here from County Durham, where I grew up. It’s full of nostalgic feelings for me.’
She told her colleagues: ‘My dad Vin, friend of the show, has not been well since Christmas. He’s got to have a gallbladder operation. He had a bit of a fall the other night’
