Amanda Holden's life – Blind Date stint, affair, TV controversies and daughter 'mix-up'

Britain’s Got Talent star and radio host Amanda Holden is appearing in Australian soap Neighbours this week.

The actress will star as Aunt Harriet for a special series of episodes, which sees Jemma Donovan’s character Harlow Robinson visit London – in the hope of discovering the truth about what happened to her mum Prue.

While Amanda found new levels of fame as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent, the star already had a long acting career before her upcoming Neighbours’ stint.

Away from our screens, she has led a very interesting life too – from high profile romances, to racy outfits and her debut appearance as a contestant on a popular game show.

Blind Date stint

Despite being one of the biggest stars on TV, Amanda Holden first made her debut many years before she found fame as an actress.

In 1991, a 19-year old Amanda appeared on game show Blind Date – but she was later turned down by her potential suitor Barnaby Hands for another contestant.

Barnaby, now a film executive, has since revealed in an interview with Mail Online that his friends still tease him for turning down Amanda live on TV.

He said: “I still get teased about it to this day. When she became famous everyone kept telling me, ‘You idiot!’

“My brother used to tease me so much. He said, ‘I can’t believe you turned down Amanda Holden!’ She used to do some modelling in men’s magazines and he would phone me up and say, ‘What were you thinking?'”

Barnaby added that when he did see Amanda he did feel regret as “she was stunning”.

TV fame

A few years after Amanda’s Blind Date stint, she made her acting debut in the TV series In Suspicious Circumstances in 1993.

However, she landed her first recurring role in popular BBC soap EastEnders a year later, where she played Carmen for five episodes.

It is also reported that she auditioned for the role of Tiffany Mitchell in EastEnders, but the role was later given to Martine McCutcheon.

From there it was onwards and upwards, with the TV beauty landing recurring roles in hit series including Kiss Me Kate, The Grimleys, Mad About Alice and Wild at Heart.

However it is her role as a judge on ITV programme Britain’s Got Talent that has launched Amanda to new levels of fame, as well as introduced her to some close friends including fellow judge Simon Cowell.

She also hosts the Heart Radio Breakfast show alongside Jamie Theakston, where she regularly sends fans wild with snaps of her stunning outfits each morning on Instagram.

Britain’s Got Talent controversies

While Amanda may be a staple fixture of Britain’s Got Talent, her time on the show has also included a lot of controversies – from accidentally swearing on air to racy outfits.

The star is known for her glamorous fashion sense, but one of her 2017 sparked over 663 complaints to Ofcom, after Amanda wore a sheer black dress with a low v-cut neck line that revealed her cleavage.

However, Amanda had already expected that there might be some backlash, telling The Sun before the series began: “I can’t wait to wear my dresses. They are very flattering and feminine and a few are… what you would expect.

“Will people be complaining to Ofcom? I hope so. I really do. I haven’t done my job if they aren’t.”

Two years later Amanda was at the centre of another Britain’s Got Talent controversy in 2019, after she accidentally swore on live TV.

She was so terrified by the performance from magic act The Haunting, that she swore during their performance.

However realising what she had done, Amanda apologised straight away to the audience, saying: “I just really want to apologise I said a really terrible word. Massive apologies. I can honestly say I feel terrified.

“It’s a terrifying, amazing, thrilling experience – but I wouldn’t want anyone to go through that I really wouldn’t. It was amazing.”

Hosts Ant and Dec also apologised on the judge’s behalf too during the show.

Les Dennis marriage and shock affair

Amanda Holden has had a few high profile relationships, including her marriage to actor and TV presenter Les Dennis.

The couple were married for more than eight years between 1995 and 2003, but split briefly in 2000 after the press revealed that Amanda had an affair with Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey.

It is reported that Amanda and Neil embarked on an affair while starring in Happy Birthday Shakespeare on The BBC.

Les and Amanda got back together, but later filed for divorce in 2003, with both addressing the affair publicly since then.

Speaking to Christopher Biggins on the star’s podcast in 2021, Les made a cheeky quip about the affair after sharing a story about being in a pantomime with Hollywood actor Mickey Rooney.

He explained that the theatre would wind Mickey up by playing Frank Sinatra tunes before they took to the stage, saying: “Mickey would get very angry, because of course, Frank Sinatra ran off with Ava Gardner [Mickey’s wife].”

Speaking about Amanda’s affair with Neil, he then added: “It would’ve been like me having to listen to Bob The Builder every night.”

Amanda Holden has also revealed that following the “dark time” she suffered after the affair was exposed, she explained that Les got her through that difficult period.

She told Birmingham Mail: “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.

“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.”

Neil has also addressed the affair and apologised to Les publicly on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, saying: “I feel sorry for how the situation was dealt with and I feel sorry for how emotional Les seemed to become.

“It was very difficult for him and for that I’m very sorry.”

Amanda later went on to marry record producer Chris Hughes, with whom she has two daughters called Hollie and Lexie.

Les also married Claire Nicholson in 2009 and they share two children, Eleanor and Thomas.

Stillbirth heartbreak

Amanda Holden revealed that in 2011 she suffered a heartbreaking loss when her son Theo was stillborn.

She has since spoken about the moment she found out that she was told there was no heartbeat, saying on the BBC programme Dear NHS Superstars special: “I remember waking up and thinking I hadn’t felt my baby kick for most of the night which was unusual because he was so active.

“I tried all the things they tell you to do, but he wasn’t moving.

“I held him even though he was fast asleep. The one thing I remember is his perfectly formed eyebrows, which all my children have.”

She added: “Jackie talked to me about the keepsakes we could have, to remind ourselves of Theo forever. We got his footprints and a little bit of his hair and the blanket he was born in.”

In a recent Mother’s Day post on Instagram, Amanda also paid tribute to Theo in the caption, saying: “#HappyMothersDay sending love to you all… Lucky to have my mummy and to be a Mama to my two girls and my angel #theo.”

Fans shared their messages of support in the comments, with one saying: “Tough one today. Love to you and your Mummy xxxx,” while a second added: “I will be remembering mine, she is sadly no longer with me.”

Neighbours mix-up

Amanda is due to appear in Australian soap Neighbours as Harriet, the aunt of Jemma Donovan’s character Harlow Robinson.

The episodes will see Harlow travel to London to meet her aunt, following the death of her mother Prue, previously played by Denise Van Outen.

However, Amanda has since revealed that while filming, many people mistook Jemma, who is the daughter of pop star Jason Donovan, for her daughter in real life, telling Daily Star: “The amount of times people stopped to ask, ‘is that your daughter, Amanda?’ We do look quite similar. We’ve both got kind of quite high foreheads and little round faces!

“She’s just so cool and so sweet, and I know her dad, obviously, very well. I love him and the whole family, so it was just so brilliant to be part of it all. And just so camp!”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk