Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden bucked the trend of becoming a bitter ex-wife when she split from Les Dennis, instead deciding to speak kindly of her former beau.
The mum-of-two, 55, is happily married to her second husband Chris Hughes. However, she was previously hitched to comedian and actor Les, who she said was her “rock” during a particularly testing time.
Amanda and Les married in 1995 and instantly became one of the UK’s most recognisable couples. However, disaster struck five years later when Amanda had an affair with Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey.
Neil Morrissey affair led to Amanda Holden and Les Dennis’ split
Les separated from Amanda – who is back on the BGT panel this weekend (February 21) – in 2002, two years after it was revealed she had a five-week affair with Neil Morrissey.
Amanda met Neil on the set of BBC’s Happy Birthday Shakespeare and told the Daily Mail that the media scrutiny was the “worst time of her life”.
She said: “I brought it on myself, I appreciate that, but nothing will ever be as bad again. It was a very dark time. It got to the point where I felt I could hardly breathe.”
Amanda’s praise for ex Les
Amanda’s rescuer came in the most unlikely form – the man she’d betrayed, Les, who is now 72. She mused: “Les proved to be my saviour. Ironically. So the person I’d hurt the most in the world was the one who was there for me.”
Amanda was only 22 when she married the comedian, who was 18 years her senior. Speaking about her admiration for her ex, the mum-of-two said she admired Les for not hiding his emotions, adding that she wished she wasn’t always such a “people pleaser”.
She’s also spoken more recently about her “fall from grace”. Amanda said: “I found the fall from grace incredibly hard to deal with. I can’t bear not to be liked. Then I had an affair and overnight turned into this awful person. There are no hard feelings with Les. I wish him the best, but we’ve both moved on. I don’t believe women have affairs for no reason. Women don’t seek sex – we seek love and affirmation.”
Les’ take on their split
Comic Les previously recalled the moment he knew his “charade of marriage” to Amanda Holden was over. And it seems he, too, needed love and affirmation.
In his memoir Must The Show Go On?, Les recalled the time when he appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2002. In one of the episodes, Davina McCall told Les that Amanda had recorded a video message for him – but it seems that was the final nail in the coffin.
Les wrote: “My heart filled with dread – she couldn’t even be bothered to do it live. Suddenly she was on screen, not alone but with two of her Cutting It co-stars. That was my defining moment. As viewers watched me watch her jabber on about my amazing honesty, the words ‘I love you and I’m proud of you’ never crossing her lips, I came to the final decision that this charade of a marriage was over.”
Amanda also revealed why she decided to divorce Les. She explained: “I terribly want children but I didn’t want to have them with Les. That’s a horribly brutal thing to say, but when you do, you know you have to move on.”
Amanda Holden’s second husband
The actress met her husband Chris, a record producer, in 2003. The pair dated for seven years before getting married in 2010. Joining them at their star-studded nuptials was their daughter Lexi, who was nearly two. They then welcomed their second daughter Hollie in 2012.
Amanda often posts loved-up pics of her and Chris and told Hello! magazine he was a “proper bloke” who “looked after her”.
Les, meanwhile, also went on to find love. He’s been married to wife Claire Nicholson since 2009.
Read more: Shocked Les Dennis on health scare: ‘Luckily they caught it early’
Britain’s Got Talent is on Saturday nights at 7pm on ITV1.
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