The Big Breakfast star, 51, opened up about the emotional toll of raising her teenage daughter Betsy as a single parent while putting her West End career on hold18:42, 22 May 2026Denise Van Outen has admitted she feels "lonely" and "unwanted" in her 50s after sacrificing her career to raise her daughter as a single parent.‌The actress and presenter, 51, made the candid confession as she spoke about the emotional challenges of reaching midlife while her 16-year-old daughter Betsy becomes increasingly independent.‌"When you get to midlife, where I'm at, you can feel a little bit invisible," she said. "I've just put everything into raising my daughter. You get to a point where your kids don't need you as much. That's a really hard thing to deal with."‌Denise, whose last serious relationship ended when she split from property developer Jimmy Barba, 38, in October 2023, admitted: "It's lovely having the freedom to go out and do all the things I feel like I missed out on or put on the back burner a little bit because I was raising Betsy. But it's also a bit sad."She added on the Wright at Home podcast: "I sometimes feel quite lonely because I'm at home and Betsy's off in her bedroom, Snapchatting and doing whatever teenagers do. My friend said to me, but you're never on your own, are you? But I feel like I'm on my own quite a lot because she's all grown up and that's a weird thing to deal with. And that can knock your confidence a little bit."‌Denise, who shares Betsy with her ex-husband, West Ends star Lee Mead, 44, added: "It can make you feel a little bit unwanted. It's really weird."She met Lee in 2007 when he won the BBC talent show Any Dream Will Do, on which Denise was a judge. They married in 2009 but split after four years of marriage.Following her divorce, Denise had a seven-year relationship with commodities trader Eddie Boxshall, 50. The pair appeared together on Celebrity Gogglebox and had planned to marry, but Denise ended the relationship in January 2022 after discovering he had been exchanging explicit messages with other women.‌"Among [his] photos was a screenshot…of a woman's breasts – and they definitely weren't mine," she wrote in her autobiography. "Also, there was a flirty text exchange between Eddie and this woman, which, of course, set off alarm bells."Denise began dating Jimmy Barba in 2022, but the romance ended after 18 months. The pair confirmed their split in October 2023, with Denise saying they "remain great friends."In February this year, Denise revealed she was seeing a mystery man outside the entertainment industry, saying: "He'll remain Mr Anonymous. He's not in the industry and he doesn't want to be in the public eye, hallelujah!"‌It remains unclear whether the relationship is still ongoing.Speaking about the impact single parenthood has had on her career, Denise explained she made an agreement with Lee that he would stick to theatre while she focused on television so she could be home in the evenings for Betsy."I did step back from theatre, because you can't say yes to musicals and West End shows with having a child. It's eight shows a week, evenings and weekends, which is really hard," she said earlier this year.Article continues belowDespite the challenges, Denise insists she has developed a thicker skin with age, saying she now "cares less" about what people think."You're never going to be everybody's cup of tea," she told the podcast. "A cab driver picked me up the other day and said, you're a right miserable cow. What did you want me to do, a full song and dance?"