10 February 2023 , 09:53
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Loose Women star Denise Welch has sparked fury amongst fans of the ITV show over comments she made about Nicola Bulley.
The search for the 45-year-old missing mum has entered its 14th day and there is still no clear proof of what happened to her. She vanished while on a dog walk on January 27 after dropping off her two young children at school in St Michaels on Wyre, Lancashire.
Her phone was found on a bench overlooking the river and Willow had been left wandering nearby. Investigators are keeping an open mind about what might of happened, with speculation growing day by day on social media.
Denise Welch sparked fury with her comments (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Police have urged people not to take the laws in their own hands or speculate on social media after her disappearance, but during a chat on Loose Women, panellist Denise sparked fury with her comments, as fans questioned why.
Speaking about the case, she said: "This is the problem, we’ve created globally all of these armchair detectives. And I am partly responsible because I’ve made no bones of the fact that in my mind I’m the 'Crime Minister'.
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"You know I’m obsessed with true life crime. When I was young and you had the news at 6pm and a couple of newspapers, all of these things went on and you didn’t know very much about it. But now we see it played out in real life and Lincoln and I are responsible for it because we know now, well we think we know, a lot about forensics."
Nicola Bulley hasn't been seen since January 27 (PA)Denise admits she was guilty of doing the same the other day, and speculated herself.
"I was guilty of the other day, screaming at the television: ‘Why are people walking along that area? That should still be a crime scene. That should still be evidence.’ Then I thought hang on a minute, there’s obviously a reason why they haven’t kept that," she added.
"But you think that you know because you watch so many crime shows."
Frustrated viewers took to social media to fume over the comments.
Talk on Loose Women turned to the missing Nicola Bulley (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
"So ‘don’t speculate about this case’ has been what ITV has said ALL Morning all throughout their programmes, while they sit there doing exactly that – speculating," one wrote, as another added: "Why are Loose Women allowed to talk about it and we’re not?"
Another wrote: " "Also there has to be some speculation; how is Nicola going to be found if theories are being ruled out because they make people uncomfortable to consider #LooseWomen."
Lead investigator Superintendent Sally Riley previously urged people not to "take the law into their own hands" or "do anything that would thwart" the investigation as wild speculation has grown on social media on what might have happened to Nicola.
Urging people not to speculate, Supt Riley added: "Nor is it helpful if people, particularly if they come from outside the area, take it upon themselves to take the law into their own hands by trying to, for example, break into empty property."