Denise Welch hasn’t had the easiest of years so far, with the return of her “unwelcome visitor” after a clear stretch of five years. Just before Christmas the Loose Women favourite was forced to pull out of an acting job, followed by time off from her ITV job, because of depression and anxiety.

“Some people deal with diabetes, or MS or cancer — my thing is mental illness,” she tells OK! as we sit down for an exclusive catch-up. “I live with it, and I enjoy the periods in between my episodes.” Denise has now been back on the panel for a few months, and it’s very much a case of onwards and upwards — especially with some major changes on the horizon.

In May, ITV announced it was merging production teams on three of its daytime shows, and cutting Loose Women and Lorraine back to 30 weeks a year.

Although the channel insisted there wouldn’t be any “radical changes” with the panellists, it’s understandably prompted a few thoughts about what’s next. For Denise, who joined the show in 2005, it’s an opportunity to make a return to what she knows and loves best — acting.

“I’m on television because I’m gobby and opinionated, and I think people can forget what I really do, and what I’m really good at, so I’m going to make a concerted effort to go back to what I do and know.”

Denise, who celebrated 12 years of marriage to artist Lincoln Townley last week, says Loose Women holds a special place in her heart — not least because the average age of its stars is around 50. “It’s the only show in the country that not only celebrates older women, but reveres and listens to older women’s opinions,” she says.

Denise has become something of an icon for her age-defying looks and sassy attitude. With her platinum-white pixie cut, often teamed with a striking red lip, at 67 she is brimming with confidence — whether people like her swimwear snaps or not. “Maybe I’m out to empower women, but I’m definitely out to say, ‘F*** off, haters.’ I’ve changed the narrative from ‘I’m 67’ to ‘I’m only 67’. I’ll wear swimwear if I live until I’m 97. And if you don’t like it, don’t look at my pictures.”

She continues: “There’s a lot of misogyny out there, too. So, there’s an element of devilment in me as well, which is to say, ‘Don’t you ever tell any woman what she can and can’t wear.’ We had Christie Brinkley on Loose Women recently. She’s 71 and looks unbelievable.”

Denise, who shares sons Matty, lead vocalist and songwriter in The 1975, and actor Louis, with her ex-husband Tim Healy, has worked hard on her confidence — but the starting point was giving up alcohol 13 years ago.

By then she was a household name, thanks to roles including Rovers Return landlady Natalie Barnes in Coronation Street and teacher Steph Haydock in Waterloo Road. She’s now been famous for more years than she hasn’t.

“I can’t really remember a time before,” she says. “It’s just how it is for our family. Matthew is obviously really famous, and my other son, Louis, is playing the lead in Stranger Things in the West End. I go to the stage door and he’s surrounded by people. “I’ve always said to the boys, ‘You’re there because of those people, be as polite and respectful as you can be.’”

When Denise got sober, she admits she quickly became “in danger of replacing one addiction with another” — food. She was binge eating, she says, but signing up to LighterLife was about far more than shifting the extra twoand-a-half stones. “LighterLife was the only company talking about the emotional side of eating, and using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to completely change my relationship with food.

She continues, “I was very newly sober so many of the things that I was learning through CBT, I was able to apply to my sobriety also.” The repercussions of giving up booze spread far wider than just herself, though.

“My children, my marriage, everything, is down to my sobriety,” she says. “It’s given my children and my stepson, Lewis, the wings to fly without worrying about me. I’m proud of the people I have created as a friendship group around me. That’s got to be something down to me? That I still have the same friends I had years ago, and that they love me and they support me.

“I’m proud of some of the things I’ve done as an actress. It might sound big-headed, but it’s the one thing I say I’m f*****g good at. “And I’m going to concentrate on reminding everybody of that!”