Denise Welch 'in tears' over painful condition that forced her to stop filming Forever Home: 'The producers were terrified'
The medical emergency left her future in the balance
Denise Welch was thrilled to win the role of Moira Crottie in upcoming Channel 5 thriller Forever Home. But her joy turned to horror when a medical emergency nearly ruined her chances on the show.
In August, Denise announced she was leaving Loose Women after almost 25 years. She revealed she wanted to concentrate on her “first love” – acting.
She explained that a “new wave of acting opportunities” had prompted her decision. And just one of those exciting roles was Moira in the C5 six-parter Forever Home.
In the series, which starts on Monday, September 14, Denise plays the mother of Amy Nuttall’s character Carol, who makes a disturbing discovery in her basement. Could her husband Robert (Douglas Henshall) be a killer?
But, as filming began, Denise’s own health threatened to derail filming…
‘You’ll be blind’
As reported in Cultured Northeast, Denise Welch fought hard to land the role of Moira and managed to persuade producers of BBC One’s Waterloo Road to release her in time to join the shoot in Northumberland. But she very nearly didn’t make it.
Having experienced problems with her eye driving up to Northumberland, she visited an opticians where she was immediately referred to a retinal surgeon. They told her: “If I don’t operate on you by six o’clock, you’ll be blind! Turns out I had a fully detached retina which had folded over.”
She added: “I rang my agent in floods of tears because I thought I was going to lose the job. But the producers were amazing. They supported me and completely changed the shooting schedule. Two weeks later I was well enough and physically healed to return. But basically couldn’t see anything out of my right eye for another six weeks. I was having to be guided everywhere on set.”
Denise Welch on ‘most challenging day of filming Forever Home’
On the set of Channel 5’s Forever Home, Denise Welch faced her “most challenging day of filming” when she suffered a detached retina in the middle of filming. The medical emergency meant she had to have surgery – and crucially delay filming.
She explained: “The production were amazing because they waited for me to come back. Although it looks okay onscreen, I couldn’t see out of my right eye. We were filming in a wood with a steep fall down the side. The producers – it made me laugh so much – were so terrified. My eye surgeon said: ‘You can go back to work but you’re not going to be doing anything silly, are you?’ I said: ‘No, don’t be ridiculous. Of course I’m not.’
“Fast forward to a night shoot in the pouring rain, sliding all over with mud, harnessed because we were doing something down by the river, I’m half blind, thinking: ‘If my doctor could see me now!’ It was challenging. But I was really looked after. As soon as I stepped out of a trailer there was somebody there to help me saying ‘come on, Nana’. Taking me everywhere.”
Read more: Is Denise Welch coming back for Waterloo Road series 18? Star teases her future on the show
