Rebecca Cook
Published November 22, 2025 10:10am
Updated November 22, 2025 10:40am
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Charley Webb has spoken about her ADHD journey so far (Picture: Girls Next Door/YouTube)
Charley Webb has shared that she is in the process of receiving an early-stage diagnosis for autism and ADHD.
The former Emmerdale actress, 37, spoke about the insight the neurodiversity assessment has had on her understanding of how people perceive her.
Appearing on the Girls Next Door podcast on Thursday, the former soap star said she’s ‘sort of just been diagnosed’ with ADHD, then later added autism as well.
Speaking to co-hosts Love Island’s Francesca Allen and Wallis Day, she added: ‘I don’t want to confirm it because I’m only at the initial stages. Autistic ADHD – I’m like, what? I’ve just started the process.
Confirming she had been speaking to doctors about the assessment, she added: ‘I think ADHD is such a big subject now, and I think everyone is probably on the spectrum somewhere. It’s how deep you go into it.
Webb, who shares three children with her ex-husband Matthew Wolfenden, went on to say it made sense to her as it could be the reason she’s perceived as ‘cold’.
The Emmerdale star said people often find her ‘cold’ (Picture: Girls Next Door/YouTube)
She explained: ‘It does make a lot of sense for me for things like people thinking that I’m really cold. I think that could just be like a little bit of the autistic side of me, if it is true.
‘I’ve got to do way more investigations. But that doesn’t shock me that much. I’m not the biggest smiler, either. I only smile if I really mean it. People fake-smile.
‘People will just smile because they think it’s the thing to do, whereas I don’t. So I think people just find me a bit cold. But I’m not.
‘Because I’ve heard it my whole life, it’s always sat with me, but actually, as I’m getting older, I really own that because I’m like, I don’t need to be all over everyone and love everyone immediately.’
What is neurodiversity, and how do ADHD and autism fit into that?
As per guidance from the Royal College of Nursing, neurodiversity is a term that’s used to denote the ‘natural diversity in human brains.’
When it comes to neurodivergence, this umbrella term is used when a person’s brain processes differ from ‘what is considered typical.’ It includes a host of conditions, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, ADHD and autism spectrum condition (ASC).
Many of these conditions can be co-occurring, as between 25 and 48% of people diagnosed with dyscalculia will also have dyslexia, and vice versa.
If you believe you may have autism or ADHD, the NHS advice is to speak to your GP or a health professional about then getting an assessment.
The assessment team will then watch how you interact with others and speak to people who know you, in order to provide a report on whether you have been diagnosed or not.
She shares three children with her ex-husband Matthew Wolfenden (Picture: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)
Webb continued: ‘It does take me a minute and I’m very yes or no. I’m so black and white: I like you, I don’t like you. There’s never an in-between with me.’
She went on to stress the importance of people ‘understanding themselves’ as greater awareness of ADHD grows.
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‘Years and years ago, nobody talked about it. There was never a discussion about ADHD or any of that sort of stuff. But now it’s like everywhere,’ she said.
‘I think it is really important to understand that. And noise for me – the trigger of noise. I go from nought to 60 in like one second.
‘All those loud noises, if I go somewhere really busy, I find it so overwhelming. So I will be interested to look further into that.
‘It’s something that’s within you, isn’t it? It’s something that is genetic. Like ADHD, for instance, one parent would have to have it in order for a child to have it.’
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