12 January 2023 , 13:43
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Denise Welch and her ex-husband Tim Healy were the picture of proud parents as they cheered their son Matty Healy led the 1975's performance in Brighton this week.
But it hasn't always been an easy ride for Matty, who has been in The 1975 since 2002 when they performed at a local council gig for teenagers.
With bucket loads of talent and charisma, his success appeared to be inevitable as he worked hard on his passion for music.
His mum Denise has never shied away from praising her son, often telling her Loose Women co-stars how proud she is of Matty.
And at the Brighton Centre gig, she couldn't resist sharing a video of the crowd cheering after blowing a kiss to her son.
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Denise Welch and her son Matty Healy, who fronts The 1975 (David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)
She has two sons, Louis and Matty (Twitter)Denise's relationship with Matty
Denise and Tim Healy share two children together; Matty and his younger brother Louis, who followed in his parent's footsteps too and starred in Emmerdale.
She has always been open about her battles with her mental health and how her sons have been affected.
"It's been a struggle, I tend not to talk too much about Matty because he has his own career going on, we've talked a lot about how he was affected by my drinking," she told Metro Online.
She shares her sons with ex-husband Tim Healy, who she was with for nearly 25 years (Teesside Live)"It was more so Matty because Louis was about nine when we got sober, so it's almost like I've had two single children because there are 12 years between them."
"It's hard, you know. It's hard for kids because you can't remember a lot of it, even though I was functioning."
She added that she didn't want people to think she was a bad mother or "slurring around her children" and said that there were "brilliant times".
Matty has opened up about his addiction issues in the past (Getty Images)Matty's battle with addiction
In 2018, Matty said that he wanted to apologise to his mum, who battled with drug addiction.
Speaking to Q Magazine he said: “I just want to apologise to my mum,” he said. “You can’t be a parent and have that kind of thing [his drug addiction] out there and not think, ‘Well, why didn’t I…’ You think it’s your fault, d’you know what I mean? When it’s completely not.”
Matty has been kissing fans during gigs recentlyWhen he was 29 he checked into a rehab centre in Barbados after getting hooked on smoking heroin before recording songs.
He referenced his drug use in songs with lyrics like: "you’ll move somewhere sunny and get addicted to drugs" and "We’re f****** in a car, shooting heroin.”
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Matty's mental health battle
Matty has become known for his risqué acts during his on-stage performances.
At the gig his parents watched him in, he snogged a fan and sucked on their fingers.
It comes after he admitted that he felt "sexualized" by fans.
Matty said that he has struggled to work through early sexual experiences (@trumanblack/Instagram)One fan pointed out that his parents were there as he was getting up close and personal with fans.
Speaking to the Guardian, he said: "People were having a romantic relationship with the band, I was sexualised to a certain extent; it was sexy, in the way that leather jackets and smoking and all that kind of s*** was sexy.'
However, he said that he found this difficult as he was struggling with his mental health after not dealing with some traumatic "early sexual experiences".
"I'm not going to be specific, but I had some early sexual experiences that, as I got older, were really, really difficult to deal with," he added.
Matty has been performing with The 1975 since 2002 (Instagram)What happened between Denise and Tim?
The couple were married for nearly 25 years before they went separate ways in 2012.
Denise claimed that there were "infidelities on both sides" during their marriage.
She admitted that they "hung on too long" to the relationship and that they made each other "miserable" by the end.
Speaking about cheating, Denise said: "A sexual infidelity could just be behind a bike shed or something when you are a little bit drunk.
The couple split up after making eachother 'miserable' (WireImage)
Denise has always been open about her mental health battles (Press Association)"I'm not condoning it, I am just saying I'd rather that than if my partner had met someone privately and got feelings for that person."
But Tim was furious that she had been speaking about their relationship on live TV.
In a since-deleted tweet he wrote: "Just watched yesterday's loose Women. Denise in her day was talking about how it was ok to have casual sex behind the bike shed even though married."
"Day after day year on year she discussed our private life. Long suffering Tim Healy I am no more xx."
Denise and her youngest son Louis Healy (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
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What has Denise worked on?
Denise played the role of Natalie Barnes in Coronation Street from 1997 to 2000.
She also performed on Waterloo Road as Steph Haydock between 2006 and 2010.
Denise is now a regular on Loose Women and often divides opinion with her fiery thoughts.