Denise Welch has claimed she "always knew" certain members of the Conservative government were breaking their own lockdown laws thanks to her sources "high up in Westminster".
The TV star, 64, has explained that while she has previously been "a Labour girl through and through" she is concerned about the prospect of Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer replacing an under-fire Boris Johnson and possibly seeing a return to Covid restrictions.
Denise - a strong critic of some past lockdown laws - also stressed how she has never been a conspiracy theorist and was always "backed up by data" before making any claims on Loose Women throughout the last two years.
Speaking at the Tric Awards in London on Wednesday, Denise expressed her surprise at why the current Prime Minister continues to cling to his position in the wake of numerous resignations from his government over recent days.
"Why would Boris - when all I want to do at the end of the day is have a cup of tea and wash the worries of the world off me - why would anyone want to be as hated as he is?" Denise pondered exclusively to the Mirror when discussing the current Westminster scandal.
"You must have to have an ego the size of the Eiffel Tower. I would like to say I don’t think he’ll survive this but to be honest, he seems to be Teflon Man."
She continued: "Having said that, I was a Labour girl through and through but I am worried about the alternative because one of my main things is I want someone who will vow not to go back into restrictions and we have to live alongside Covid.
"That’s my main thing at the moment and I’m terrified of the alternative. So that’s it."
Since 2020 Denise has won fans - and gained critics - for her strong opinions about the government’s handling of the ongoing pandemic that she often shares on social media and when appearing on ITV show Loose Women.
When asked by the Mirror if she sometimes ever regrets being outspoken, she confessed she does "almost every single day" due to how people "spin things" and turn comments into clickbait.
But she maintains she was always well-informed prior to ever opening her mouth on-air - silencing critics who sarcastically mocked her knowledge and insight into all things Covid over recent years.
"I was incredibly informed and was always backed up by data," Denise recalls. "I was never a conspiracy theorist and I spoke to some of the most clever, intelligent people in the world.
"Before I said one thing on Loose Women - I wasn’t going to name those people - but I would always show my producers the text conversations we had.
"So they knew that when people were on Twitter saying ‘Oh lets listen to Professor Welch who says she’s talking to an epidemiologist’ I actually was.
"It was when I couldn’t go in an ambulance with my dad but people could go to a football match, that’s when… Not having it again. Not going through it again."
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When asked if she had a hunch those in 10 Downing Street may not have been following the same rules as the rest of the country, Denise made it clear she wasn’t surprised to learn about the alleged rule-breaking earlier this year.
"I knew, from my sources, that Downing Street was being run in a completely different way than everywhere else in the country," she revealed to us at the star-studded bash.
"If they were telling us that if we stepped outside we could basically possibly murder someone then why didn’t they live by the same rules?"
"I knew that they were breaking the rules," she added. "I had people who were very high up in Westminster who I spoke to so I knew they were breaking the rules."
Denise’s comments were made at the Tric Awards at Grosvenor House, where stars from the world of TV and radio gathered for the annual star-studded bash.
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