ITV Loose Women legend 'honoured' as she breaks silence on Emmerdale role

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Loose Women's Denise Welch has expressed her delight at working on Emmerdale, describing it as "an honour" to join the cast for the intense court case of Tom King and Belle Dingle.

The actress, known for roles in Coronation Street, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Doctors, will make her first appearance on the ITV soap as Heidi in the episode airing Wednesday (December 18).

The court case will unfold during Thursday's (December 19) hour-long episode with Denise's character, Heidi, as part of the jury determining Tom's (Jamie Chase) fate amid allegations of appalling abuse against his wife Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper).

Discussing her new role on Emmerdale, Denise stated: "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." She went on to reveal how the script borrowed elements from real-life cases and mentioned the involvement of the charity Refuge in its research, adding that her character Heidi seemed more emotionally charged, "perhaps indicating past experiences with domestic abuse herself".