Loose Women favourite Nadia Sawalha was on the verge of tears during Thursday’s edition of the ITV chat show when she opened up about her husband’s mental health

Nadia Sawalha almost broke down in tears on Thursday’s episode of Loose Women. The former EastEnders actress, 60, joined anchor Kaye Adams, ex-Strictly Come Dancing pro Oti Mabuse and comedienne Judi Love in her usual seat as part of the panel on ITV’s flagship chat show.

The lunchtime ladies were discussing a new podcast interview featuring former footballer Wayne Rooney, and how he feels as if he is ‘managed’ by his wife Coleen and she supports him through various difficulties. Nadia, who has been married to Mark Adderley since 2002 and has Maddy, 22, and 18-year-old Kiki with him, then spoke of how she has ‘rescued’ her husband amid his struggles with mental health.

Nadia, who has previously spoken of how her husband achieved sobriety after many years of struggling with alcohol, was asked if she ‘manages’ her husband and admitted: “Yeah. I like to think more of supporting. I will do it as…Mark does have mental health issues, and I support him through that from a position of being so lucky that I don’t go through that.

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The lunchtime ladies were discussing a new podcast interview featuring former footballer Wayne Rooney, and how he feels as if he is ‘managed’ by his wife Coleen and she supports him through various difficulties(Image: ITV)

“So when he’s very low, it can be very hard, but it’s not as hard as what he’s going through. So I will support him…I will…help him see pinholes of light when it’s very dark.” Nadia then paused to gather her thoughts, and had to stop herself from crying.

She said: “Sorry, I don’t know why I just got overwhelmed then. Sorry. I just have so much, you know I do, empathy for those who struggle with their mental health. It’s not just an easy swipe this or that.

“I am a rescuer, and when I met him, it took me a while to realise he had addiction problems. And him as well, he didn’t know. I’d already seen his heart and soul and his beautiful brain and all those things. If you say managing or rescuing, there was no choice because I was already there with who he was.”

Nadia was supported by her colleagues, and then received a round of applause from the live studio audience following her words.

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Nadia, who has been married to Mark Adderley since 2002 and has Maddy, 22, and 18-year-old Kiki with him, then spoke of how she has ‘rescued’ her husband amid his struggles with mental health. (Image: Instagram)

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The TV favourite has previously spoken about her husband’s Bipolar II disorder and depression, for which he was diagnosed in 2021. Last year, Nadia said that “he was told that he would have been trying to deal with his illness since he was five or six years old”. Writing in HELLO, Nadia explained that “by default” she has to also “endure” her husband’s “horrors of depression”. “Except it’s easier for me than it is for him. Much easier,” she explained.

“We’ve been married for almost twenty years, and I would say it’s only really in the last few years that I’ve fully understood what living with depression means…It breaks my heart when he tells me how sad he is because I adore him and it feels so unfair. But it’s also much better in the long run to know the truth,” she said.

Prior to that, Mark himself took to Instagram where he looked back on his experience navigating alcohol abuse, as well as his mental health conditions, before he went sober.

The film producer shared an old photo of himself with his and Nadia’s daughter Maddie, now age 19, and his mother. He wrote beneath the picture: “This was me at my most chaotic, out of control and sad.”

Mark continued: “I knew I had huge reasons to be happy because of our dear dear baby girl – but drink had me in its grip. I can see a strained smile and dead eyes.”