Loose Women's Janet Street-Porter 'sick with jealousy' over co-star's news

Janet Street-Porter couldn't hide her envy on Wednesday's Loose Women as Denise Welch shared her latest career triumph. Denise, aged 66, joyfully announced she'll soon appear in Emmerdale, marking the achievement of having roles in all four major British soaps.

Fans will remember Denise's stints as Natalie Barnes in Coronation Street from 1997 to 2000, Alison Slater in EastEnders in 2016, and Trish Minniver in Hollyoaks from 2021 to 2022, before taking on the role of Heidi in an upcoming Emmerdale episode. While her co-stars celebrated Denise's accomplishment, with Ruth Langsford even presenting her with a mini trophy, Janet, at 77, confessed to feeling 'sick with jealousy'.

Ruth playfully recounted: "You should have seen Janet's face, she was like this!" imitating Janet's reaction, which prompted Janet to list her own soap appearances, including Neighbours, Hollyoaks, and Benidorm, and her attempts to get into Casualty.

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Denise couldn't resist pointing out: "Benidorm is not a soap! A soap is a continuing drama not if it's a different series." This led to a cheeky retort from Janet: "Oh you nit-picker, you nit-picker!" Denise had the last laugh, adding: "I've also been in Benidorm so there you go," as reported by the Mirror.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, Ruth quipped: "This is like soaps Top Trumps!" Denise then teased: "Janet's not even an actress so why would she want to be in them?"

Denise excitedly shared details about her new role in Emmerdale, revealing: "I'm going to be in Emmerdale but, I say but, it's not a but - but it's a one-off hour-long special," reports Chronicle Live.

She continued, explaining the significance of the episode: "It's the first time Emmerdale have ever done it, for those of you who are fans of Emmerdale, there has been 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."

Denise elaborated on the storyline: "This is the culmination of that story so the episode takes place exclusively between the court and the jury. I am one of the heads of the jury, called Heidi, obviously I can't say what the outcome is but it's a very powerful episode and some of the lines are taken from true cases."

She expressed her pride in the project: "Refuge have seen it and they're thrilled with how it's being depicted! It was incredible to be a part of it", and mentioned that viewers can look forward to the episode airing later in December.