Emmerdale’s Charley Webb bursts into tears: “I’ve never felt so alone”
Emmerdale star Charley Webb has emotionally opened up about her mum's dementia diagnosis, admitting that she's 'never felt so alone'
This is the heartbreaking moment Emmerdale actress Charley Webb burst into tears during a recent podcast interview as she said, ‘I’ve never felt so alone.’ The soap star broke down as she spoke about how she’s coping after her mum’s dementia diagnosis.
The mum-of-three, who split with co-star Matthew Wolfende in November 2023 after 15 years together, admitted she is struggling under the strain of her mum’s illness.
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt so alone as when that diagnosis happened,” she confessed. The Debbie Dingle star continued: “To be honest, I still don’t think I’ve processed it.
“They say that you grieve when they’re here and you grieve when they’re gone. I think a lot of people find it harder than what maybe they let on.” Speaking to Bryony Gordon on The Life of Bryony podcast, the actress continued: “It’s hard to watch. I really struggle to go and see my mum without getting upset.”
Charley burst into tears during the emotional admission(Image: The Life of Bryony and Daily Mail Lifestyle/YouTube )
Charley explained that there is not enough support for those who are helping a loved one with dementia. She explained that at the start of the ordeal, it had been “very isolating”.
While wiping away her tears, Charley said: “It’s hard, it’s not the person that you love.” Charley previously told fans that her mum, Helen, was just 64 when she was diagnosed. Captioning her upload on Instagram, she said: “In 2015, our lovely Mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She was 64. This last 8 years have been a learning curve, a grieving process and something all of her children have struggled with.
“Every day is a challenge and brings difficulties which are really hard to come to terms with. 8 years later we finally feel ready to talk about it and the goal is to raise as much money and awareness as possible, to be able to help everyone that may face this in the future. Even though she’s still here, I miss her. Always my Queen, HM’sD, love you Mama.”
Speaking about her life on This Morning, Charley said she instantly “knew” the moment that the lives of herself and her loved ones were changing. She explained that she had been living in “hell” for the past eight years.
“She forgot something huge for me financially, and it was then that I thought this is serious,” Helen said. She went on to tell hosts Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond: “Then she was convinced she was about to lose her house, she got a letter. At first people thought I was being quite dramatic, as I am quite dramatic.
Charley and her ex-husband, Matthew Wolfenden called time on their marriage in 2023(Image: WireImage)
“But I knew in my gut that something wasn’t right.” At the time, Charley was pregnant with her middle child, Bowie, and stated that getting her mum’s diagnosis had been a “long process”.
She said of her mother: “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.” But at first, Charley’s mum was said to be in “denial” about her diagnosis, having never wanted to go to the doctors about anything previously.
However, it wasn’t just the mental change which Charley found difficult. She also explained that her mum’s appearance had changed. “Seeing the decline is just so awful. When you find out, you know that life is about to change so dramatically,” she said.
Charley and her former husband, Matthew Wolfenden, were together for five years before they split in November 2023. At the time, they said: “We remain friends and our priority is the love for our children. For their sake we would appreciate privacy at this time. C x.” Matthew shared the same post, signing off with: “M.”
Not long after they announced their split, it was claimed that Charley was “hardly at home” and had “moved lots of her stuff out” of their marital property. At the time, a source told The Sun: “Charley and Matthew were in very different places in their lives when they first got together. Three kids later and with new careers in the mix, everything has changed and perhaps they are no longer the unit they once were.”
Their decision to part ways wasn’t the first time they ended their relationship. In 2013, four years after Matthew proposed, the couple revealed they had gone their separate ways. A spokesperson confirmed at the time: “Charley Webb and Matthew Wolfenden have today confirmed that they have separated.”
Two years later, they confirmed they found their way back to each other before Matthew told fans their split “was never a permanent split”. Matthew said that they needed “time apart”.
