Former Emmerdale star Charley Webb has opened up about her mother’s diagnosis with early-onset dementia in an emotional new interview on Good Morning Britain today (2 February).

The actor, who played Debbie Dingle between 2002 and 2021, appeared on the ITV daytime show to raise awareness of living with the condition, and how you have to fight to get support.

Speaking about her mum, Helen, Webb said: “She was 64 when she got the diagnosis but of course the symptoms come before that. [It] takes time to get that diagnosis; it’s not an easy diagnosis to get.

“So I feel like it’s been a long, long time.”

When asked by host Susanna Reid when she noticed that her mother was showing signs of something more serious than just normal forgetfulness, Webb explained: “She actually forgot something huge, which is quite a personal thing, something between me and her.

“And I just knew in that moment, it wasn’t something that she would have forgotten.

“And I think everyone around me at the time was like, ‘You’re being dramatic’ – ’cause I am quite dramatic – [They said,] ‘You’re being dramatic, everything’s fine’. And I’m like, ‘No, something’s not right’.”

Webb continued: “I just knew in my gut. There hadn’t been loads and loads of things, actually, I have to say. My mum is a very organised person, she worked for my sister for a long time, running her makeup company, so she was very on the ball with things, and it was just something that she dropped, and I thought, ‘There’s just something not quite right’.”

GMB co-host Ed Balls then spoke about his own mother, and how he’d realised something was wrong when she served a completely uncooked meal and had no idea.

Webb urged people not to delay getting a diagnosis, as the process is already quite long, and when the person in question is a bit younger, they can get “fobbed off” with excuses like their symptoms being down to an infection.

She added that while she knows GPs are under huge pressure, she still felt they weren’t as helpful as she would have liked with her mother.

“Really push for it is what I would say,” Webb went on. “Just do not take ‘no’ for an answer.”

She then spoke about how she made the difficult decision to move her mother into a care home, explaining that this is a “healthier” environment as the staff can provide the specialised care that she needs.