Denise Welch has opened up about the moment her son Matty Healy, frontman of The 1975, told her he needed to go to rehab for drug abuse.
The Loose Women star, 65, struggled with her own addiction to drugs and alcohol in the late Nineties and early Noughties, after she joined Coronation Street in 1997 to play Natalie Barnes.
Welch said Healy first confided in her that he needed rehab in 2017, which left her “shocked”.
“I knew he had issues because he’s always been very open to me, but I didn’t quite know that it was rehab-worthy,” she told The Sunday Times in a new interview.
Healy has spoken candidly about his struggle with heroin addiction and wrote songs about it with The 1975. He entered rehab in 2017, and continues to be in recovery. He still drinks alcohol and smokes cigarettes regularly, but no longer uses heroin.
Reflecting on her son’s admission, Welch said: “I had to stand back and realise that Matty was the son of an alcoholic, and I had to come to terms with the shame that brought.
“Because I wasn’t always aware of everything I did when I was drinking, or how the things he’d seen and I’d done had affected him.
“But Matty said, ‘Mum, I wouldn’t be who I am if our house wasn’t a bit of rock’n’roll’,” she added.
However, Welch spoke effusively about her son and how proud she is that he has achieved success on an international stage with his band.
Denise Welch (Ian West/PA)— (PA Archive)
“I love being Matty Healy’s mum,” she declared. “I love watching him play live, I love my Eva Peron moment when I get to wave at the crowd.”
But the actor and TV personality also lamented how much time she spends apart from Healy when he is away touring, adding that she “misses having him to myself”.
“It’s selfish of me, really. It’s just love. But if I have two hours with Matty – which hopefully I’ll do tomorrow night and it’ll just be us – then I’m good. And when I go and see him play live next, and we’re surrounded by people, it’s OK because I’ve had my two hours with him.”
Welch did not comment on Healy’s brief relationship with Taylor Swift, which they reportedly embarked on after she split from her boyfriend of six years, Joe Alwyn, in April.
Swift and Healy’s short-lived romance, which reportedly ended by June, was fraught with controversy as the pop superstar’s fans accused Healy of poor behaviour and making unsavoury comments.
There was particular uproar after Healy sparked backlash for mocking rapper Ice Spice in a podcast interview with The Adam Friedland Show. The “Happiness” singer claimed he tried to message Ice Spice on Instagram, before he and hosts Friedland and Nick Mullen went on to mock the accents of Japanese, Hawaiian and Scottish people.
Fans became increasingly incensed after Swift announced a collaboration with Ice Spice for a new version of her song “Karma”. One Twitter user wrote an “open letter” to the “Bad Blood” singer expressing the “disappointment” fans felt in her silence over Healy’s remarks.
During a 1975 concert in New Zealand, Healy apologised to Ice Spice for his comments and said: “Ice Spice, I’m sorry. It’s not because I’m annoyed that me joking got misconstrued. It’s because I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m a d***. I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry.”
Welch and Tim were married from 1988 to 2012, and they also share son Louis Healy, who is an actor. She was previously married to David Easter from 1985 to 1988, and is currently wed to Lincoln Townley since 2013.
