Emmerdale’s Charley Webb makes urgent plea after mum’s devastating diagnosis
Former Emmerdale star Charley Webb bravely spoke about her mum Helen's devastating dementia diagnosis.
The Debbie Dingle actress has opened up about her private life since leaving the soap(Image: ITV)
Former Emmerdale star Charley Webb has bravely shared details of her mother’s heartbreaking dementia diagnosis as she campaigns to boost understanding of the condition.
The 37-year-old actress, who portrayed Debbie Dingle in the hit ITV soap between 2002 and 2021, stepped away from the show following the arrival of her third child with former partner and fellow Emmerdale actor Matthew Wolfenden.
Since her departure from the Dales, Charley has been refreshingly candid about her personal journey, revealing last year that she had received diagnoses of ADHD and autism.
Now, Charley has spoken frankly about her mother Helen’s dementia diagnosis, which she first disclosed publicly in 2023.
Charley Webb appeared on Good Morning Britain today(Image: ITV)
READ MORE: Emmerdale’s Graham actor has secret Coronation Street role and fans are swooningREAD MORE: ITV cancels Coronation Street and Emmerdale for two nights as fans furious
Appearing on Good Morning Britain this morning alongside presenters Susanna Reid and Ed Balls, Charley reflected: “It is not an easy diagnosis to get,” reports the Daily Star.
She revealed that whilst her mum was formally diagnosed at 64, she had been experiencing symptoms for a considerable period beforehand.
Describing the warning signs she observed, Charley said: “She forgot something quite huge… something between me and her, and I just knew in that moment that it was something she wouldn’t have forgotten.”
Despite others suggesting she was being “dramatic”, Charley trusted her instincts that something wasn’t right.
The actress played Debbie Dingle from 2002 until 2021(Image: ITV/Emmerdale)
She continued: “Mum was very on the ball with things and it was just something she dropped, and I thought, there’s just something that’s not quite right.”
Offering advice to viewers, she urged: “I wouldn’t delay getting the diagnosis, because the process is quite long, especially for someone who is younger.”
“Do not take no for an answer,” she passionately advised, sharing that doctors didn’t always heed their concerns and initially misdiagnosed her mum’s condition as a water infection, which they believed was causing her memory loss.
Charley’s mum now resides in a care home, with Charley explaining it was “not possible” to provide the necessary level of care at home.
Charley’s mum was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 64(Image: ITV)
“It’s such a relief,” she continued. “It’s a massive decision but once you make that choice and see them in a healthy environment.”
Talking about how her mum is doing now at the age of 75, she concluded: “She’s ok, she has some good days, some not good days.”
Charley had bravely shared her mum’s battle with dementia in 2023 during an appearance on This Morning, saying at the time: “There was no support, no help, it was shocking actually, and for me and my siblings it has been eight years of hell. She’s now gone into a home and it was the hardest decision we’ve ever had to make.”
She continued: “It’s difficult, it’s hard, it was stressful. She had a big personality, she was much wilder than me. She would stay up until 4 in the morning with my friends, so seeing that decline was awful.
Charley spoke to Good Morning Britain hosts Ed Balls and Susanna Reid about her mum’s diagnosis(Image: ITV)
“I think she was in denial. She was young, she was 64, she never wanted to go to the doctors for anything. They looked for everything else, they checked her thyroid, did tests because I don’t think they thought it was that.”
Charley heartbreakingly spoke about losing her mum “right before your eyes”, saying: “That’s the hardest thing, because you grieve for the person they were. She’s like a little girl now and it’s taken me a long time to be able to talk about it. It’s such a personal and big thing but it feels like now is the right time.
“One out of two of us will get dementia or care for someone with dementia, if we can do something about it now we should.”
