Denise Welch has opened up about her appearance in Emmerdale, which sees her take on the role of head juror in the domestic abuse case between Tom King and his wife, Belle Dingle
Denise Welch has said she “thoroughly enjoyed” playing a juror in soap opera Emmerdale, describing her appearance as “an honour”.
The 66-year-old, who made her name as Natalie Barnes in Coronation Street, will play head juror Heidi as Tom King appears in court over the domestic abuse of his wife Belle Dingle in Wednesday’s episode of the ITV show. Speaking of her appearance on the show, Welch said: “I thoroughly enjoyed shooting this important episode of Emmerdale. Like many I’ve been gripped by the Belle and Tom storyline so to play a head juror in the story’s culmination was an honour.
“Parts of the script were taken from real life cases and the charity Refuge were involved in the research. My character Heidi was more emotionally involved so I felt that maybe she had experienced some form of domestic abuse herself. At Loose Women, wearing my other hat, we launched our Facing It Together campaign this year which has been hugely successful in shining a light on all sorts of abuse including of course coercive control so the subject matter is one I’m passionate about.
“To share the jury scenes with Charlie Dale and Jack Ellis and also to see lots of my Emmerdale mates made it a job to remember.” Speaking previously about her new role, Denise excitedly told the audience and her fellow Loose Women panellists: “I’m going to be in Emmerdale!”
Denise admits her new role was a huge ‘honour’ (Image: ITV)
She said: “It’s a one-off one hour special and it’s the first time Emmerdale have ever done it. And for those of you who are fans of Emmerdale, there is 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, and this is a culmination of that story.”
Denise continued: “The episode takes place exclusively between the court and the jury and I am one of the head’s of the jury called Heidi. Obviously, I can’t say what the outcome is, but it’s a very, very powerful episode and some of the lines are taken from true cases. Refuge have seen it and they’re thrilled with how it’s been depicted so it was incredible to be a part of it, and that’s on I think December 19.”
Landing the role is a career milestone for Denise – who has already appeared in Coronation Street, EastEnders and Hollyoaks. Her role in Emmerdale apparently makes her a ‘CHEE’. She gushed: “So I’ve now been in all four soaps.” which earned a round of cheers from the audience.
Explaining what it means, Denise added: “‘I saw on social media that I’m now a CHEE and that’s because it’s quite something in America to be an EGOT, which is the winner of an Emmy, a Grammy, and Oscar and a Tony. So not quite that level, but Corrie, Hollyoaks, EastEnders, and Emmerdale.”
The hour-long special episode will air at 7.30pm. Welch is married to fellow actor Tim Healy and is the mother of The 1975 lead singer Matty Healy. She has appeared on Loose Women on and off since 2000 and appeared in more than 450 episodes of Coronation Street between 1997 and 2000. She has also appeared in BBC drama Waterloo Road, sitcom Benidorm and Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks as Trish Minniver. Welch also played Alison Slater in one episode of EastEnders.
