Denise Welch, 66, takes a swipe at her ‘youthful’ Loose Women co-stars

Denise Welch has made a not so subtle dig about her ‘younger’ co-stars on Loose Women following an on-air row with fellow panellist Stacey Solomon.

Denise, 66, and Stacey, 34, came to blows during a live episode which aired in June, which the actress later insisted wasn’t a feud between the pair.

However, during a new podcast interview, Denise hinted at tensions between herself and her co-stars, especially younger panellists who join the show.

Speaking on Olivia Attwood‘s podcast, So Wrong It’s Right, she said: ‘I’m always happy to have new blood on because we do get bored of each other.

‘But I’ve always been sceptical when younger people come in because, sometimes, they may have a great life story but they are either not prepared to talk about it yet, or are too worried about what the public are going to say.’

Revealing the backstage discussions, and added: ‘So they’ll be in a meeting saying “I’m not going to talk about that,” and it’s kind of like, “what are you gonna talk about then?”

Stacey, who joined in 2016, is one of the youngest members of the panel, alongside her co-stars Frankie Bridge, 35, and Katie Piper, 40.

During the debate, Stacey jumped to the defence of people who have been working from home since the Covid pandemic.

But Denise felt that the country was ‘grinding to a halt’ because staff had ‘disappeared’ from the workplace.

Stacey replied: ‘They don’t disappear because they’re working from home,’ but Denise insisted: ‘But, where are they Stace?’

Stacey continued by saying the pandemic proved how many people were able to do an ‘adequate if not better job from home’.

The duo failed to come to an agreement on the dispute, with viewers noting the palpable tension from home.

Denise later quashed any rumours of a feud, saying: ‘We disagreed on something, it was about young people and work ethic and since Covid, have Gen-Z become a bit more lazy and entitled, it was one of those kind of Loose Women things.

‘Stacey said something about nurses and the NHS which provoked a great big reaction, and I actually agreed with her.’ 

Denise and Stacey’s row isn’t the first time that the mother of two, including the 1975 singer Matty Healy, has been involved in an on-air war of words.

Loose Women descended into chaos last year after Denise and her co-star Jane Moore locked horns in heated row about Prince Harry.

The panel were discussing a leaked excerpt from his upcoming biography Spare, in which The Duke of Sussex accused his brother Prince William of physical attack.

Denise furiously defended Harry declaring herself ‘team Harry and Meghan’ but was met by resistance from Jane who described his accusations as ‘hurtful.’

In his book The Duke of Sussex described a stand-up row that ended with the Prince of Wales grabbing him by the collar and throwing him to the floor, shattering a dog bowl with his back. William then allegedly declared: ‘I didn’t attack you, Harold’. 

Denise told Jane she found it ‘strange’ that she was ‘so against Harry and Meghan’ given her years working as a royal correspondent. 

‘Why shouldn’t Harry say his peace, Jane? I think he’s had to move away from a family, they’ve done it behind his back,’ she shot.

Jane cut in arguing that Harry was only looking ‘to make money’ before Denise fired back: ‘Jane, you talked to me about interrupting.’

‘The fact is the Royal Family make quite a bit of money themselves,’ she continued. 

‘They have been leaking stories. We know they have. As soon as Meghan was seen as the People’s Princess, that was game over, because William and Kate have to remain in those positions.

‘Meghan was in those rooms on the global stage with charities, she didn’t do that just when she got married to Harry.

‘I think do what you like. Tell your story because I think it’s absolutely the worst thing that’s happened to them.’

‘Tell your story but not sell your story. Is it blind support or do you accept that they’ve made some mistakes,’ Jane responded. 

Denise added: ‘But I don’t see anything wrong in him getting his wife out of this country.

‘When they said they wanted privacy, they wanted privacy from other peoples’ narrative, not from their own story. This is the only way they’ve got to tell it. I’m team Harry and Meghan.’

In June 2021, Denise had a furious row with Gloria Hunniford over Covid-19 restrictions shortly after the height of the pandemic.

Denise criticised the ‘double standards’ of the UK government after being unable to travel in an ambulance with her elderly father at the weekend.

After Denise blasted football fans for being able to gather in London, Gloria hit out: ‘Hang on just one second. Not anyone in the country doesn’t want lockdown to end and the double standards are very hard to understand.

‘However, with the Indian virus in 24 hours there were 11,000 people confirmed.’

But Denise hit back: ‘But there’s no escalation in deaths, Gloria. When do we move on? There have been flatline deaths since April.

‘A third of all councils across England and Wales haven’t suffered a fatality since April. Give people their jobs and livelihoods back.

‘We’ve got to move on from it. If vaccinations work, that’s what we’re doing. Not another month, another month.’

Reflecting on her own struggle to be with her father this weekend, she went on: ‘I’m not allowed, double jabbed, to travel in an ambulance while this is going on with my father. 

‘We all saw the G7 photographs, the virtue-signalling people. It’s the double standards.

‘All of them there in masks at the beginning but immediately the cameras were off taking their masks off.’

It came after Denise furiously hit out at the UK government after she was stopped from travelling with her elderly father in an ambulance at the weekend, while football fans were allowed to line the streets.

The actress did not say what was wrong with her father but highlighted what she believes is hypocrisy from the government amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying it’s unfair certain freedoms have not returned as lockdown is eased, while revellers partied after England’s Euros 2020 match against Scotland on Friday.

Sharing a picture of a crowd of soccer fans on Instagram on Saturday, Denise wrote: ‘Today, I wasn’t allowed to travel in an ambulance with my 84-year-old old frightened dad. Why?? 

‘There is no reason. I’ve tried to call out this hypocrisy for over a year. I came off Twitter as I was called a Covid denier. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

‘But I knew this would happen. I saw the utter hypocrisy when the government allowed the clap for carers to become a weekly carnival with emergency services lining the streets with their sirens blaring. 

‘Karaoke and wine parties, nurses gathering outside hugging. Bridges full of people clapping. 

‘Meanwhile, two men were threatened with arrest as they tried to comfort their mother sat alone at her husbands funeral.’ 

The Loose Women star then accused ministers of being ‘in thrall’ to epidemiologist Neil Ferguson who resigned from his government position last year after repeatedly breaking lockdown guidelines to see his lover. 

Denise continued: ‘Why has there been zero transparency? During Brexit (remember that?) there were nightly debates but with Covid.. nothing. 

‘People’s voices silenced if they dared ask any questions. NHS workers (I’ve spent 10 weeks amongst them) not allowed to speak out about ANYTHING. 

‘The NHS is in a mess. It has been for years and we are told that WE have to save it. We don’t. They have to save us. 

‘But the communication system within it is completely and utterly broken and that is the fault of the trust bosses. No one else. This has to stop. We need to be given our freedom back.

‘I’ve had my 2 vaccinations and I will make my own decisions about the risks I take. They have no right to continue to control us and let football rule the f…..g world.

‘I’m not a 5G, great reset believer. I believe it is total incompetence, fear, cover up and a desire not to lose these emergency powers they’ve been granted. 

‘I no longer want my life controlled by communist Susan Michie.’