Former Emmerdale star Charley Webb has courageously shared details about her mother's devastating dementia diagnosis during a heartfelt appearance on Good Morning Britain. The actress, best known for playing Debbie Dingle in the long-running ITV soap from 2002 to 2021, spoke candidly with hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls about her family's challenging journey.
Heartbreaking Diagnosis and Early Signs
Charley revealed that her mother Helen received a dementia diagnosis at just 64 years old, though symptoms had been present for some time before medical confirmation. "It is not an easy diagnosis to get," the 37-year-old actress reflected during the emotional interview. She described a pivotal moment when her mother forgot something significant between them, triggering her concern that something was seriously wrong.
"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," Charley explained. Despite others suggesting she was being "dramatic," the actress trusted her instincts that her mother's cognitive changes represented more than normal aging.
Challenges in the Diagnostic Process
The diagnostic journey proved difficult for Charley's family, with medical professionals initially attributing her mother's symptoms to other conditions. "They looked for everything else, they checked her thyroid, did tests because I don't think they thought it was that," she recalled. At one point, doctors even diagnosed a water infection that might have contributed to memory difficulties.
Charley offered crucial advice to viewers facing similar situations: "I wouldn't delay getting the diagnosis, because the process is quite long, especially for someone who is younger." She emphasized the importance of persistence, stating firmly, "Do not take no for an answer" when seeking medical attention for potential dementia symptoms.
Family's Emotional Journey and Care Decisions
Describing the impact on her family, Charley revealed: "For me and my siblings it has been eight years of hell." She poignantly discussed watching her mother's personality transform, noting that Helen had been "much wilder than me" and would "stay up until 4 in the morning with my friends" before her decline.
"That's the hardest thing, because you grieve for the person they were," Charley shared emotionally. "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."
Transition to Specialized Care
The family eventually made the difficult decision to move Helen into a care facility when home care became unsustainable. "It was not possible to continuously care for her mother at home without specialist support," Charley explained. While acknowledging it was "the hardest decision we've ever had to make," she found relief in seeing her mother in a proper care environment.
"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." Charley reported that her mother, now 75, experiences fluctuating days: "She's ok, she has some good days, some not good days."
Raising Awareness and Personal Advocacy
This isn't the first time Charley has spoken publicly about her mother's condition, having previously discussed the dementia struggle during a 2023 This Morning interview. Her decision to speak out aligns with her growing advocacy around health issues, having also revealed last year that she received diagnoses for ADHD and autism.
The actress emphasized the broader significance of dementia awareness, noting soberly: "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." Her openness about both her mother's journey and her own neurodivergence represents a significant contribution to public conversations about health conditions that often carry stigma.
Charley's departure from Emmerdale in 2021 followed the birth of her third child with then-partner and fellow cast member Matthew Wolfenden. Since leaving the soap, she has increasingly used her platform to discuss personal and family health matters, bringing important visibility to conditions affecting millions of families across the UK.
