Loose Women presenter Lynda Bellingham ‘had debts of £1.7MILLION when she died’

LOOSE Women's Lynda Bellingham left a colossal £1.7million debt when she died, it has emerged.

The celeb, best known for playing the Oxo mum in the 80s adverts, left a property worth £1.9million - but its actual value was last week estimated at just £165,519.

A will expert said the difference in value is "almost certainly" due to debts left by the TV star, who died of bowel cancer in 2014.

A High Court document released yesterday shows the huge difference between the gross value of her estate and the "net" value.

Andrew Kidd of Clintons Solicitors, which specialises in wills and tax law, said: "There is obviously a lot of debt. This could relate to anything from mortgages to any kind of money owed."

The reason for the two polar figures is unknown, but her estate agent will have had to pay any liabilities she had including debts and mortgages.

Any property or assets jointly owned by the former panellist on ITV’s Loose Women would also not necessarily have featured in her estate.

Kidd added the type of legal document that revealed the value of Lynda's estate was only issued when there was a dispute over a will.

It was revealed in April Lynda's sons Michael Peluso, 32, and brother Robbie, 27, from her second marriage were contesting the document.

The sons claimed that their mother’s third husband Michael Pattemore had told them that she had written a will leaving everything to him.

Lynda and Pattemore were married from 2008 until her death.

She was dubbed the "nation's favourite mum" thanks to her adverts for Oxo stock cubes, which featured her as a loving wife and mother cooking up mouth-watering meals for her family.

Lynda appeared on daytime chat show Loose Women between 2007 and 2011 and was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2009.

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