Loose Women’s Charlene White candidly remembers being compelled to ‘maintain it collectively’ in entrance of ITV viewers after returning to work following her beloved father’s tragic suicide

Charlene White has candidly opened up about the difficulties of ‘holding it together’ after returning to work in the aftermath of her beloved father Denniston’s devastating suicide. 

The Loose Women star, 45, announced in October 2025 that her father had tragically taken his own life after ‘living with a dark cloud he couldn’t lift’. 

The loss came just months after Charlene lost best friend Darrell and her mother Dorrett previously died from bowel cancer in 2002. 

Paying tribute to her employer for their support, the broadcaster, who is also an ITV newsreader, said it took her time to realise the ‘difference between being strong and faking it’ as she battled through grief. 

‘What I underestimated is how difficult it is to go on air when you’re holding it together in front of hundreds of thousands of people,’

Charlene went on: ‘I work for an amazing company that has given me time when I’ve needed it. When I’ve said: “This week isn’t a good week” they’ve supported me’.

She told New Magazine: ‘We are strong when we need to be, but we also have to recognise when we’re not. There have been times when I’ve had to step back because I couldn’t be strong that week. That’s important knowing the difference between being strong and faking it’ as reported by The Mirror. 

Charlene previously made the heartbreaking confession that she has spent ‘many many hours’ asking why her father decided to take his own life . Read the full story here. 

Last year the Loose Women panel were discussing grief saw the star breaking down when discussing late pal Darrell’s death from Sarcoma cancer. 

The presenter shared his incredible story and explained how he had joined forces with charity Sarcoma UK to try and raise awareness for the illness. 

 She’d paid tribute to Darrell on social media, writing: ‘There will be many of you who will be aware of me talking about one of my oldest and best friends Darrell @djoptic and his mission to beat the enemy which is Sarcoma cancer.

‘In the early hours of Saturday morning, four and a half years after he was diagnosed, after a week of saying goodbyes to those he loved, sharing stories and banter, he took his final breath surrounded by his wonderful wife @mrsamymcdonald and children Maya and Theo.  

‘He has been my brother since we met at 16 years old, I was the best man at his wedding, and godmother to his eldest. The nonsense our little crew would get up to was hilarious back in the day, he was there for every milestone. My heart is broken into a million pieces.

‘He was by far one of the kindest men I’ve ever met, and throughout his treatment he made it his mission to shine a light on Sarcoma alongside @sarcoma_uk in the hope no other family had to go through what he and his family went through: raising awareness, raising money, educating doctors. He was quite simply, amazing.

‘His wife @mrsamymcdonald is honestly the best of all of us. I’ve watched her in awe over the past 4 years. I wish I could hug her pain away, because at this point life just feels very, very unfair.

‘I’m returning to work today, because I just don’t know what else to do tbh. Grief can sometimes just make you feel a little lost. Message your besties and let them know how much they are loved xx.’

Charlene also had an emotional moment on the panel when she reflected on the death of her mother. 

She was just 20 when her mum Dorrett died from bowel cancer at the age of 47. 

In a discussion about grief, the mother-of-two explained that her pregnancy with her son Alfie was particularly difficult as she faced motherhood without her own mother to support her. 

Charlene – who has son Alfie, nine, and daughter Florence, seven, with her TV executive partner Andy. 

She first explained that, upon finding out she was pregnant, Charlene ‘was fine’ but grief caught up with her unexpectedly.

‘I was fine about it, I took the test, I was completely fine with it. But there was a moment, when I started showing and I was in the bath’, she remembered, ‘I was looking at the bump in my belly and it hit me that I was going to have to learn to be a mother when I was motherless.

‘The one person that I needed to guide through this really massive moment in my life wasn’t there. That’s the one moment where I completely lost it and I just cried and cried.

‘I couldn’t stop because grief presents itself when you least expect it and when I gave birth to Alfie, it’s that realisation that your mum is the only person you’ll physically connect to.’

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