Denise Welch, known for her candidness about her past “infidelities”, openly discussed this on Loose Women.
During a conversation with panel members Kaye Adams, Olivia Attwood and Nadia Sawalha on Thursday (October 31), Denise confessed that her past unfaithfulness was “it was no secret” and that she had faced the consequences of her affairs being publicised in the media over time.
The discussion began on the popular ITV show when Kaye Adams questioned her co-stars about their views on the perception of women who cheat. She wondered if it was viewed differently when women were involved.
Love Island’s Olivia Attwood, renowned for her frank views, didn’t hesitate to share her thoughts on the matter. She revealed that in her eyes, her girlfriends “could do no wrong”.
However, she did acknowledge that she and her friends recognised there was a double standard when men behaved in the same way as them. Olivia even mentioned that her friends would often “laugh about it”, fully aware that if a male partner acted similarly, it would be disapproved of, reports the Mirror.
Joining the conversation, Denise agreed with Olivia’s observations. She pondered whether it was assumed that there would be more of a “valid reason” for women to cheat compared to men.
On the programme, Denise vented her feelings: “I do agree that there are double standards, however when I admitted to my own infidelities I was treated like the wicked witch of the west, certainly by the media and probably quite rightly so.”
Discussing the time she met her now-husband, Lincoln Townley, she notably avoided mentioning key specifics after her former spouse called her out on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Reminiscing about a conversation with a colleague concerning casual liaisons and her previous union with actor Tim Healey, to whom she was wed from 1988 to 2012 and with whom she has two sons Matt and Louis, Denise brought up the past.
A quick-to-be-removed tweet by an incensed Tim read: “Just watched yesterday’s Loose Women. Denise in her day was talking about how it was ok to have casual sex behind the bike shed even though married.” He continued with a solemn pledge: “Day after day year on year she discussed our private life. Long suffering Tim Healy I am no more xx.”
Recalling their marriage on the show amidst discussions on “emotional cheating” she acknowledged: “My husband and I both agree we held on far too long and we were making each other miserable and thankfully we’ve now got a great friendship.”
In a frank reveal, she admitted: “I genuinely used to think that being unfaithful wasn’t the worst thing you could do in a relationship. There were infidelities on both sides… which you girls know about.”
Loose Women airs weekdays on ITV1, from 12:30pm.