Denise Welch forced to say she's 'alive' after sickening social media hoax

03 December 2023 , 22:52

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Denise Welch shuts down bizarre false claims she's died from being fatally run over (Image: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty I)

Denise Welch has confirmed that she's "alive and well", after being left baffled by false reports circulating on Sunday night that she had died.

The Loose Women host took to X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly before 9pm this evening to assure her 557k followers that she was not dead after her Wikipedia page was hijacked with the disinformation.

An unknown Internet user updated Denise's biography on the online encyclopaedia with the untrue claim that the 65-year-old had been fatally run over by a mobility scooter. Another edit to her Wikipedia profile, which has since been amended to include only accurate details, also claimed that the former EastEnders star had 'died of explosive diarrhoea'.

Denise Welch was left baffled by the false claims that she had died (TWITTER)

Denise was quick to shut down the rumours, writing, "I'm alive and well and about to watch the jungle", before thanking the public for their concern. The update has been met with widespread relief from her fans, many of whom replied with sweet messages after discovering it was only a false alarm. "Great to hear! I was worried for a second!" one person said, while another wrote, "How cruel some people can be! Glad you're safe and well."

The death hoax comes a day after Denise, who is the mother of 1975 frontman Matty Healy, revealed she'd accidentally defecated on the streets of New York while wearing cream trousers. "I saw a couple of people turn and look at me," she told the Guardian. "Now, although I’m not famous in New York, whenever Matty’s there I do get recognised as his mum, so I’m smiling and waving at them. I went back to the hotel room and bent over to get something out of the suitcase, and my husband said: 'Do you realise you’ve shat yourself?'"

EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness

Denise Welch has been married to Lincoln since 2013 (Loose Women’s Denise Welch/Instagram)

Denise shut down the rumours she'd died with a simple statement (Getty Images)

Elsewhere in the interview, Denise admitted she wished she could apologise to the people she hurt when she was "suffering with addiction to alcohol and cocaine." She also credited her husband, Lincoln Townley, for getting sober with her and being her "anchor" in recovery. Denise married the millionaire artist in 2013 in the Algarve, Portugal, two years after meeting him at Soho's Jet Black nightclub. At the time of their fairy tale wedding, Lincoln called "persuading Denise" to accept his marriage proposal his "most brilliant achievement."

"I turned 40 last year and I have never met anyone like Denise, never been close to anyone like Denise, never loved anyone like I do Denise," he gushed to the Mail Online. Denise divorced from her second husband, Benidorm star Tim Healy in 2012, after 24 years of marriage. Before this, she was married to David Easter for three years. The two split in 1985, with Denise later admitting she had 'no chemistry' with the Brookside actor.

Emma Dooney