Loose Women star Denise Welch has opened up about her recent health battle, which forced her to miss the daytime show for three months. The 66-year-old actress, known for her roles in Hollyoaks and Waterloo Road, first joined the programme in 2005. She was notably absent from the show in November and only recently returned after a three-month break. Upon her return, Denise candidly detailed on Loose Women her recent collapse before a pantomime performance in December and shared an insight into her long-standing battle with depression.

Speaking exclusively to Express Online and other media outlets at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards, Denise discussed her health scare and what she hopes to achieve this year.

"Last year, I had a sort of mental health scare for the first time in 5 years, and so I've decided that this year I want just to spend a lot of time concentrating on myself," she explained. "Doing Loose Women, I want to travel with my husband if he goes on business. I want to go back to the theatre."

When quizzed whether she was returning to her role on Waterloo Road, she replied: "No, I've heard the same rumor as you, but, I'm going to wait and see."

Speaking on Loose Women about her health scare, Denise said in February: "I ploughed on and I started the pantomime, within three days I collapsed in the foyer of the hotel I was staying in and I got back to the room and I said to my agent 'you've got to pull me out'."

Despite pulling out of the pantomime, Denise had prepared to return to her ITV position on Loose Women but fell ill again. She was rushed to hospital and received treatmentfor acute peritonitis via an intravenous drip for a week.

According to Metro, she said: "I recovered from this episode and got back from a lovely holiday in the Caribbean last Saturday looking all bronzed and looking forward coming back on her and showing off my sun tan…and I got rushed to hospital with acute peritonitis (an infection of the stomach lining)".

"So, I’ve been on drip for a week! They didn’t have to do surgery, they got it with antibiotics, thankfully, and I am now back and eating!" she added.