Denise Welch has successfully forced Woman’s Own to print a front-page correction after the magazine published false claims about her without evidence. The former Coronation Street star complained to the press regulator Ipso, leading to a rare climbdown by the publication.
The article, which appeared earlier this year, quoted an anonymous “source close to the star” alleging “diva demands” by Welch upon her return to Loose Women after a five-year break. The magazine did not contact Welch for comment before publication, later telling Ipso it had relied on a source that had been accurate in the past.
Welch said she took the unusual step of complaining because the article was written “purely to humiliate, degrade and embarrass me”. She noted that while she has accepted negative coverage when true, this instance involved “two pages of lies” that she could not ignore.
Ipso ordered Woman’s Own to publish a correction on the front page in the same font size as the original headline, rather than a page-three correction as initially offered. Welch described the magazine’s apology as insufficient, noting it had previously apologised for an inaccurate story about her.
Welch hopes her case will encourage other celebrities to challenge inaccurate gossip magazine coverage. She criticised the industry for relying on anonymous sources and for what she described as tearing women down. “These magazines call themselves women’s magazines. All they do every week is tear women down,” she said.
