As Denise Welch joins Emmerdale, all of her other soap roles – from Natalie Barnes in Coronation Street to Alison Slater in EastEnders

Denise Welch is joining Emmerdale as Belle’s domestic abuse nightmare finally comes to an end.

Denise will play a juror when Belle faces her abusive husband Tom in court.

Of course, telly icon Denise is best known now for her role as a panellist on Loose Women. But she’s no stranger to soaps, either, having appeared in Coronation Street, EastEnders and Hollyoaks.

Here’s the lowdown on her other soap roles.

Natalie Barnes (also known as Natalie Horrocks) in Coronation Street

Coronation Street icon Natalie was the reason fan-fave couple Sally and Kevin split!

She took over son Tony Horrocks’s share of the garage, back in 1997. And she was soon having a steamy affair with Kevin Webster!

When Sally found out, the residents of Weatherfield were firmly on her side. Natalie was very unpopular for a while. But she got a job behind the bar at the Rovers, and began making friends locally.

She also found love with Street bad boy Des Barnes. The pair got married but just four weeks later, Des was killed when he was defending Tony from some drug dealers.

Natalie was devastated, but she picked herself up, and eventually bought the pub and became the latest in a long line of legendary Rovers landladies!

A romance with Vinny Sorrell followed, and everything seemed rosy, until Vinny ran off with Natalie’s sister, Debs Brownlow!

Natalie decided it was time to move on and she left Weatherfield for good. Later viewers discovered she’d had Vinny’s baby.

Alison Slater in EastEnders

Back in 2016, Stacey Slater was shocked to discover that her late dad, Brian, had a whole other family that she, brother Sean, and mum Jean, had been kept in the dark about.

Stacey thought she was being stalked when Kyle came to the Square, but it turned out, he was her half-brother. There was a bit of trouble at first when Stacey didn’t believe Kyle was who he claimed to be.

But when he revealed he was born Sarah Slater and was transgender, the pair smoothed out their differences. Chef Kyle got a job with Ian Beale and settled into Walford.

Denise Welch played Alison Slater – Kyle’s mum. Alison had struggled to accept Kyle’s identity.

Hoping to build bridges, Stacey contacted Alison and invited her to Walford. But despite her efforts, Alison and Kyle couldn’t put their differences aside.

Trish Minniver in Hollyoaks

Maxine and Mitzeee’s mum Trish was played by actress Paula Wolfenden for occasional appearances between 2010 and 2012. When she moved to Hollyoaks in 2021, the role was recast and Denise Welch joined the cast.

Dance teacher Trish had a rocky relationship with daughter Maxine. But when Maxine’s estranged dad Dave Chen-Williams arrived, things changed.

Dave’s rejection of Maxine, led to Trish telling him exactly how proud she was of her daughter. Maxine overheard and the pair made up.

Sadly, it was just minutes before Trish left the village to stay with Mitzeee in LA, but it was the perfect ending for the character!

Steph Haydock in Waterloo Road

Denise played modern foreign languages teacher Steph from series one of Waterloo Road until series five. She came back for a guest appearance in series six.

And now it’s been reported that she’s due to make a comeback in the new season of the school-based show.

Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm, with an early release on ITVX at 7am.

Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm.

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