Denise Welch

Jacqueline Denise Welch is an English actress and television presenter. She is known for her roles as Natalie Barnes in Coronation Street and Steph Haydock in Waterloo Road . She is also known for her appearances as a regular panellist on the ITV lunchtime chat show Loose Women from 2005 to 2013.

Jacqueline Denise Welch was born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, to father Vin and mother Ann . She has a younger sister Debbie. She attended Bygate School in Whitley Bay, La Sagesse Roman Catholic School in Newcastle upon Tyne, before moving to Ebchester, County Durham at the age ofwhere she attended Blackfyne Grammar School in Consett and passed five GCE exams. She developed a penchant for acting at the age ofafter being cast in a school production of Finians Rainbow. At the age of 17, she contemplated going to a teacher training college in Crewe however, her father and drama teacher suggested she apply for the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London. She was successful in her application and remained at the school from 1976 to 1979, gaining her Equity Card while teaching dance at the Palace Theatre, Watford.

Source: Wikipedia