A Loose Women panellist has shared a worrying health ordeal with her co-stars and the ITV audience. Denise Welch, 66, shared that she encountered an unusual side effect after undergoing hospital treatment for a “life threatening” illness.

Appearing on the daytime talk show, host Ruth Langsford pointed out that Denise has “not been very well” lately as she said: “You had this thing on your hand? Your skin started peeling?”

Denise replied: “Yeah, yeah. If I did not know what this was, I would think I was probably going to pop my clogs.

“But I have, in this last week, turned into a sort of reptile woman. So, three weeks ago, I was in hospital. I had a horrible episode of perforated diverticulitis – don’t get it – and it was nasty.”

According to the NHS website, perforated diverticulitis is a medical emergency that can be life-threatening. It occurs when a weakened pouch in the colon wall ruptures, spilling bowel contents into the abdomen.

Denise Welch opened up on her recent health battles (Image: ITV)

The ITV star continued to explain her predicament, as she said: “In order to avoid surgery, they had to pump me full of these high grade antibiotics and all of my skin on my hands and feet completely dried up to the point where I could barely move my hands.

“But it wasn’t painful. It was a rash, but it wasn’t painful. So they said ‘could you just bear with it, because these antibiotics are really working?'”

She raised her hands to the camera as she explained: “But they’re literally peeling off. And my feet… they’re worse.”

The ITV star showed her hands to the audience (Image: ITV)

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On another episode of the show recently, Denise also shared that she had lost a considerable amount of weight due to another health issue. She opened up, saying: “I recently had to lose a couple of stone because of sleep apnoea.”

The TV personality continued: “I was told that if I didn’t I could be at risk of a heart attack or stroke within 10 years. I feel so much better having done it because I had learnt how to change my relationship with food.

“But what had happened was over the years, my weight had crept up gain. I went back to the origins of what I used, the company that I used and I lost it safely and effectively.”