Loose Women’s Linda Robson has had a tough few years, dealing with a breakdown and a struggle with drinking and OCD that left her on suicide watch. Now, she’s in the middle of a divorce from her husband of 33 years, Mark Dunford.
Speaking for the first time about the split, 65-year-old Linda has ruled out finding love again as she plans to move out of her long-term home into a two-bedroom house near her children. However, in an interview with OK! magazine, she says it’s not her broken marriage that is haunting her most it’s her guilt.
Linda, who had a breakdown and ended up in rehab, says: “I gave my family the worst time. I still find it hard to forgive myself for that. I’d always been the strong one. Suddenly, they all had to look after me.”
She continued: “I felt so bad for what I’d done to everyone who loved me. My family would come and visit me on Sundays instead of us all at home having a roast together. It was the worst time of my life, ever.”
The Birds of A Feather star began to spiral in 2018 after a bad reaction to diazepam, prescribed to help her sleep. This led to a nervous breakdown, OCD and heavy drinking before a long road to recovery. But although she’s back to her old self, Linda will never again have the same family as she has split from Mark, the father of her children Louis, 32, and Bobbie, 28.
She says there was nothing dramatic about the split though.
She says they simply grew apart, adding: “People do, sometimes, don’t they? We never had that much in common. I’m very sociable. Mark never enjoyed that side of things.”
She believes what kept them together for so long was their children and she’s quick to point out that Mark has always been “an amazing dad”.
“I’ve been sad about it, of course I have,” she says. “But we had two lovely children together. But they’re all grown up, living their own lives now.
“Now it’s me and Dolly the dog. [But] I’m in a really good place. Work’s good.”
Linda and Mark are planning to sell the period home they shared in Islington, North London, and Linda is getting a two-bed home nearby, so she can be near the kids. But while she’s officially single again, Linda is not looking for another relationship.
“No, no, no!” she insists. “I don’t need a man. I’ve got my friends and my family. I’m not interested in dating, I’m too old now. I can’t be bothered with all that ‘jiggy jiggy’.”
Speaking of which, Linda’s mischievous actress pal Denise Welch bought her a vibrator last year, having realised her friend had never owned one.
“I was like, what the hell do I do with this?,” she says. “What if the kids find it?! So I ended up giving that away.” Linda is sharing her new beginning in her memoir Truth Be Told: Tales from a Baggy Mouth, which was an emotional but therapeutic experience to write.
Linda, a beloved TV star in Britain, shares her captivating life story in her book. She talks about her humble beginnings in a working-class family in Islington and her journey to stardom.
She also discloses that she has only fallen in love twice, first with Tony Tyler, the father of her daughter Lauren, and then with Mark. Linda admits in her book that there were times when she “didn’t feel like she could carry on”.
“It’s true,” she confirms. “But I’m still here.”
Linda continues: “If anyone had told me I’d have a nervous breakdown, I’d have gone, ‘Me? Are you mad?’ I’ve learned a lot about mental health. I never thought about it before what happened to me. I think a lot about it now. I’m just so relieved to be back to my old self.”
Two weeks ago, her children and grandchildren celebrated her four-year return to Loose Women, alongside co-stars such as Jane Moore, Nadia Sawalha and Kelly Holmes.
Linda’s struggle began in January 2017 when she decided to quit her nightly bottle of wine after a segment on Loose Women.
Going cold turkey led her to increase her sleeping pills, but when the doctor switched them to diazepam, it caused a bad reaction and triggered her downward spiral.
Her OCD got worse. She was taking five baths a day, constantly changing the bed and emptying the bin, carrying a toothbrush everywhere and obsessively keeping her phone battery at exactly 100%. As the OCD made her hyperactive, she drank more to numb it.
During a girls’ holiday in Ibiza back in 2018, her Loose Women pals realised that Linda Robson needed help. After a few treatments, her drinking problem escalated and by Christmas 2018, the police were called to her house.
Her family considered having her sectioned as her daughter banned Linda from being alone with her grandchildren. Linda opened up about self-harming while in hospital.
Thankfully, she hasn’t had an alcoholic drink in years and is now off all medication, with many supportive friends including some quite powerful ones.
Sarah Ferguson was such a huge fan of Birds Of A Feather that she would send Linda a personal Christmas card every year.
Linda shared: “[Queen] Camilla loved it, too,”I gave my family the worst time. I still find it hard to forgive myself for that.
“She came to ITV once, as she wanted to meet the Birds Of A Feather girls. She was so lovely. We ended up just talking about our grandchildren.”
You can read Linda’s full interview and photo shoot in this week’s issue of OK! magazine. Her book, Truth Be Told: Tales from a Baggy Mouth, is set to be released on Thursday.
