Amanda Holden has candidly reflected on the initial phase of her relationship with ex-husband Les Dennis, explaining that when they met, she felt he could use some “mothering.”
In her autobiography ‘No Holding Back’, the Britain’s Got Talent judge wrote about their starkly different personalities: “At first he thought I was loud, overconfident and a bit brash, which was probably true,” she admitted, adding: “I thought he was a bit of a miserable sod.”
Despite this, she felt a compulsion to care for the comedian, who was 16 years older than her. Detailing in her book, Amanda recalled Les as “He seemed sad, quiet and troubled and I instinctively wanted to help.”
Their paths intertwined at Bournemouth’s Pavilion Theatre while performing in The Sound of Music. Outside the show, Amanda and Les, originally from Garston, engaged in cast social events such as bowling, during which they began conversing more frequently, reports the Liverpool Echo.
This was when Les opened up about his divorce from Lynne – married shortly after Amanda was born – and his regrets about losing touch with his son Philip, according to the Mirror.
Celebrating her 54th birthday today, February 16, Amanda reminisced that for a while they were simply platonic friends: “I don’t think I consciously fancied him at this stage.”
Nonetheless, by 1995, a couple of years post their first encounter, Amanda and Les were married, embarking on their journey as a couple.
The marriage between Amanda and Les ended after five years, amidst the scandal of Amanda’s affair with Neil Morrissey, her co-star in Happy Birthday Shakespeare. In an attempt to address the public’s curiosity about their split, Les joined the second series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2002, a decision he later regretted as “not one of his wisest moves”.
The affair and subsequent media frenzy took a heavy toll on Amanda, who described that period to the Daily Mail as the “worst time of her life”. She confessed: “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.”
Despite her remorse for deceiving Les, their relationship was beyond repair, leading to their divorce in 2003.