Loose Women's Denise Welch says she's 'not been well' as she explains recent absence

Denise Welch has been supported by her Loose Women co-stars after returning to the programme following a period of absence.

After opening the show on Wednesday (November 20), Kaye Adams told viewers that Denise's 'unwelcome visitor,' which she calls her depression, has been' knocking at the door' before she opened up about what had been going on with her personally.

Denise said: "Yeah, so I had a really rough two weeks, which I'm still in a bit. I just did a podcast and a big article saying how I've been free for five years of clinical depression. Sadly, the unwelcome visitor paid me another visit, so I've not been well for a couple of weeks."

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She added: "I just wanted to come on here because what I need when I'm poorly, I need for my friends to just know that I need time to get well."

Denise told her co-stars that while she did take some time off, she wanted the choice as to whether she works to remain hers. She explained: "When Janet [Street-Porter] returned [from hip surgery] it was up to Janet to say, 'I've had hip surgery I feel well enough to come back'. It's up to me to know when I'm well enough to come back.

"The only thing that people will relate to if they have depression is, I've been free of the morning fear for a long time. I can be ok today, but then tomorrow, I can be absolutely terrible, and it's isolating."

She added: "Sadness is something that you have as a result of something making you sad, it's a healthy emotion. Depression does exactly what it says on the tin, it depresses every single emotion. So you feel a flatness to things you usually get emotional or have feelings about, it robs you of that."

Before they moved on with the show, Denise thanked her Loose Women co-stars for their support, and she confessed it helps her to go to work while she's working through this time. Janet stood up and gave Denise a hug and taken aback, as Janet doesn't usually do hugs, Kaye exclaimed: "Oh my god!"