Denise Van Outen is worried about the impact her split with cheating Eddie Boxshall will have on her daughter.
The TV presenter shares 12-year-old Betsy with ex-husband Lee Mead, who she was married to from 2009 to 2013.
She was then in a relationship with commodities trader Eddie for seven years until they called it quits in January 2022.
The couple had been planning to marry later this year – until Denise found out Eddie had been messaging other women behind her back.
The Celebrity Gogglebox star revealed it hit her so hard she turned to therapy to cope.
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Speaking about her fears for her daughter, Denise said her biggest worry was Betsy growing up “thinking relationships fail”.
She told pal Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast: “Kids have phones now, and they’re in school where they are going to read things and hear things, so I did have to be completely honest with her.
“And actually I’d want to be honest with her. I think it’s important with your kids to have that honesty.
“There are still things I probably haven’t told her or I’ve held back. There have been moments where I’ve been really upset and you don’t want your child to see you upset, because it’s a horrible thing.
“But at the same time, she kind of does need to know as well. I can’t just brush everything under the carpet.”
Denise revealed she was struggling to find the right balance of how much to say to Betsy - and still didn’t know if she was doing it the right way.
She continued: “As a parent, my responsibility is to guide her through life and I worry she’s going to think that things go wrong.
“That she’s going to go into relationships when she’s older perhaps not with an open heart, and that’s what I don’t want to happen. That’s where it’s tricky.”
Fearne said she didn’t think that would happen because Denise and Betsy’s dad Lee have such an amazing friendship.
Although they are no longer together, Denise shared her and Lee “really help each other out” when it comes to co-parenting.
“What’s really great is even through all of it, she’s got that solid foundation. She’s got her dad. He’s an amazing father,” she added.
Denise admitted she had “not yet fully healed” following her shock split with Eddie five months ago.
And she shared that for the first time in her life she is doing therapy, even though she says in her book she considered it in her Twenties but never did it.
Explaining why she decided to seek help at the age of 48, Denise said: “I think I always thought I could solve everything myself.
“Because everything that happened floored me, like literally floored me. I then wanted to start to understand why this seems to be a pattern.
“Not just on the other side of it, but why I allow myself to sometimes perhaps try to fix things and make things right.
“I think I’m a bit of a fixer – I try to fix people – and sometimes it’s to my own detriment. I think that’s why I’m trying to understand.”
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