Denise Welch previously shared her guilt after son Matty Healy confided in her about his dr::ug add!ction.
Matty – who turns 36 today (April 8) – started smoking her0!n in 2014, as his band The 1975 were enjoying an early rush of fame.
He initially hid his add!ction from his bandmates. However, they eventually staged an intervention, which led to two rehab stays, before he went cold turkey in 2018.
Speaking on Loose Women back in 2018, Denise revealed Matty confided in her when she went to visit her eldest son in Los Angeles, where he was touring with the band.
Loose Women star Denise is mum to sons Matty and Louis (Credit: YouTube)
Denise Welch on son Matty Healy’s drug addi::ction
Denise, 66, shares Matty with ex-husband Tim Healy, 73. The former couple are also parents to son Louis, 24, who’s an actor, just like his famous parents.
Speaking in an emotional segment on Loose Women back in October 2018, Denise revealed: “Last year, Matty realised he was in trouble and I wasn’t seeing a great deal of him because he is on a world tour all the time.
“So although success for The 1975 has been wonderful, it’s been hard for me because I felt I’ve lost my son to this other world. It’s been difficult and it’s not like I’ve been witnessing the effect this has had on him, but obviously the people very close to him did.
“I went to Los Angeles to visit him and he told me last year he was going to take himself to rehab and he needed help with opiate a::ddiction. It was hard but I was thrilled and touched he told me, I was extremely proud he told me. The reason I’m talking about it today is that Matty has decided to publicly speak about this. He is a brilliant songwriter and he will be writing about this battle with drugs.”
Back in 2018, Denise said she was proud of her son for speaking out (Credit: ITV)
‘You don’t always have blame yourself’
Rocker Matty publicly apologised to his mother for his ad::diction battle and told the star not to blame herself.
Denise admitted she does have “shame and guilt” about some parts of Matty’s childhood, which was very different to the one her other son, Louis, has had with her and her second husband Lincoln Townley.
She said: “Because I’ve had issues over the years, even though I didn’t talk about them much, my life was spiralling out of control. Louis has pretty much grown up in a sober household but I do have shame and guilt with regards to some of the things Matt had to see.
“I wasn’t staggering round the house with a vodka bottle, but if I could redo parts of his childhood, I would do that. So to hear he’s had issues with drugs has been very difficult for me. As a mum, you always look to yourself to see if there is anything different you could have done.
“The fact Matt has said publicly, not just to me but other people out there whose children have maybe got into problems, you don’t always have to blame yourself.”
Denise added: “I have a tendency to feel a lot of guilt. If his upbringing hadn’t been a little rock and roll, he wouldn’t be in The 1975. If he’d been the product of a life with Lincoln and I, the band would never have existed because were in bed with a crumpet and the TV by half 9. I’m not making light of it. It’s a very serious subject and I’m delighted he’s decided to tell his truth. He’s a great guy.”
Thank you @RealDeniseWelch for talking so openly about your son Matt’s drug add::iction and decision to go to rehab – ‘I’m very proud he decided to tell his truth’
If you want to talk to anyone, we have ad::diction helplines available here >> https://t.co/hP4wIpv6iE pic.twitter.com/vXPQ60sT30— Loose Women (@loosewomen) October 29, 2018
‘I just want to apologise to my mum’
Denise spoke out on Loose Women after Matty gave an interview to Q Magazine about his struggles with drugs and how it had impacted on friends, family and his creativity.
He said in the interview: “I just want to apologise to my mum. You can’t be a parent and have that kind of thing out there and not think, well, why didn’t I… You think it’s your fault, do you know what I mean? When it’s completely not.”
Matty Healy has been open about his struggles (Credit: Splash News)
Later, in October 2022, he spoke to Rolling Stone. He revealed that, while working on their 2018 album A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, he pushed back over their pleas for him to get help. Matty said he told them: “No, you need to respect my drug ad:d:iction.”
However, the following morning, remorseful, he changed his mindset and agreed to get help.
“Oh my God, not only was that the wrong thing to say, that was so cringe. Because I know that they will get over that, but that’s going to be an anecdote that they’ll take the [bleep] out of me for years for – that’s the first thing I need to think about,” he said.
He also revealed his recovery, and the realisation that, despite his ad::diction, he hadn’t lost everything. In fact, he told the magazine: “I’d not lost anything. I’d nearly lost the respect of everybody I loved, but I hadn’t. Hadn’t lost my career. I hadn’t lost my possessions. Hadn’t lost my money. I was just walking a very, very thin line. I think that I was lucky enough in my condition in the way that I am as a person to recognise that what needed to be done needed to be done.”
