A series of social media posts claimed Denise Welch went missing over the weekend
Loose Women star Denise Welch has addressed social media claims that she went missing in a hot air balloon.
Fake reports began to circulate on social media on Saturday (March 29) that the 66-year-old presenter had ‘gone missing’ while in the sky.
According to the photoshopped reports, Denise was travelling on a scenic route across the English Channel via the unique mode of transport.
Denise was then said to have allegedly disappeared from sight while flying over France, before it was later said a ‘deadly crash’ occurred.
The mum of 1975 frontman Matty Healy shared one of the posts on her Instagram story, with the headline reading: "Hot Air Balloon Carrying Denise Welch Disappears En Route from the UK to France."
Seeing the funny side of the bizarre story, Denise said along with several laughing emojis: “Thank goodness they found me!!!”
Continuing to poke fun of the situation, Denise then shared an image of her as a Simpsons character waving from a hot air balloon.
After this, Denise reposted a photo from X, previously known as Twitter, of another fake report that said Lady Gaga was ‘looking for Densy’.
“Lady Gaga begins search for Denise Welch and the lost hot air balloon herself,” the post read.
Joking that ‘there’s hope’ for her if Lady Gaga was aiding the search, Denise then shared a video from a fan who made a cut out hot balloon and floated it through their living room.
Denise’s final post of the evening saw her strutting towards the camera with Matty’s fiancé Gabbriette Leigh Bechtel, who the singer got engaged to last year.
“When you've been missing for hours above France in a balloon,” she joked.
For several hours on Saturday, Denise’s Wikipedia page was temporarily changed to say she was last seen ‘somewhere over Pyrenees, France’.
Denise’s fans rushed to X as the story emerged, with some not aware that it wasn’t actually true and that she was safe and sound at home.
@tommykinss said: “Just told everyone about Denise Welch going missing in a hot air balloon only to find out it’s not true.” @Rossva1189 replied: “ I had to google it to be sure, not gonna lie.”
@lqbyrinths wrote: “The rumour that Denise welch went missing in a hot air balloon is quite possibly the funniest thing to happen on uk twitter in a while.” @sidewinder2all joked: “Simpsons predicted Denise welch going missing in a hot air balloon.”
Sharing a video of Newcastle's League Cup parade, @dngbt_ commented: “An enormous crowd erupts into the streets of Newcastle Upon Tyne to celebrate the safety of local legend Denise Welch, who's missing hot air balloon was rescued earlier today!”
