Emmerdale icon Charley Webb has shared a devastating update on her mum and her “horrendous” Alzheimer’s battle.
The former soap star, 35, who shot to fame playing Debbie Dingle on the ITV soap, appeared on This Morning on Friday (June 9).
But things took an emotional turn when Charley opened up about her mum Helen’s battle with Alzheimer’s – revealing her mum was diagnosed eight years ago and their family had been through “hell” since.
Charley Webb makes heartbreaking confession about her mum
Speaking to hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary, Charley revealed that Helen played a major role in her career. And she noticed her mum’s memory was getting worse when she “forgot something huge”.
Charley explained: “I got into working so young. Mum took over things like that and my sister’s makeup academy, and she was just forgetting things.
You lose them right before your eyes
“She forgot something huge for me financially, and I thought this is quite serious, then she was confused about something with her house, and I thought this doesn’t make sense. And people were like ‘you’re just being dramatic’ because I can be dramatic but I just knew.”
Charley Web’s mum was ‘in denial’
The TV icon recalled how this all unfolded while she was pregnant with her middle one Bowie.
“That was traumatic, trying to get the diagnosis is actually a long process. 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,” she revealed.
For me and my siblings it has been eight years of hell
The Emmerdale star noted how she thought her mum was “in denial,” saying: “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.”
‘It’s been eight years of hell,’ says Charley
What’s more, the actress also revealed her mum’s appearance had changed due to dementia. She explained to This Morning hosts: “My mum is so fit and healthy. Very glamorous, hair was always perfect, makeup perfect. You lose them right before your eyes.
“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.”
Charley also revealed: “There was no support, no help, it was shocking actually, and for me and my siblings it has been eight years of hell.” She then went on to reveal her mum is now in a care home. She said: “She’s now gone into a home and it was the hardest decision we’ve ever had to make.”
Read more: Charley Webb hits back after being trolled for her appearance in latest Instagram post
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