Amanda Holden's wild love life from age-gap marriage to devastating affair

12 January 2024 , 19:30

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Amanda Holden called her first marriage breakdown the 'worst time of her life' (Image: Getty Images)

Amanda Holden's marriage to Les Dennis came to a crashing close after a secret affair rocked their relationship.

The Britain's Got Talent judge has walked down the aisle twice, with her first showbiz marriage making headlines when she tied the knot with comedian Les in June 1995. Amanda, then 22, and Les, then 40, met while performing in The Sound of Music in 1993. But their love appeared to be doomed and the celebrity couple split after five years.

It was Amanda's unfaithfulness that ultimately ended their romance, after she had an affair with actor Neil Morrissey while starring in BBC's Happy Birthday Shakespeare. Amanda and Les spent some time apart to try and make the marriage work, but filed for a divorce in 2003, by which point they were both in new relationships.

Amanda cheated on Les with a BBC co-star in 2000 and they finally filed for divorce in 2003 (Alan Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)

Amanda later admitted that she was broody but didn't want to have children with Les (Getty Images)

Amanda has always spoken highly of Les and revealed that it was the "worst time of her life". While it was Amanda who had the marital affair, Les reportedly let Amanda claim his adultery on the papers to speed up the process.

At the time of their split, Amanda, then 32, shared a devastating confession about why she felt so ready to move on. She said she was 'very broody' and could see herself having multiple children in the next couple of years. "I terribly want children but I didn't want to have them with Les," Amanda explained. "That's a horribly brutal thing to say, but when you do, you know you have to move on."

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Later opening up about her affair, 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."

While Les has since forgiven Amanda, he can still pinpoint the exact moment he knew their relationship was no more. In his memoir Must The Show Go On?, the star attributes his exit from Celebrity Big Brother 2002 as the final nail in the coffin. At the very end of his time on the show, presenter Davina McCall said Amanda had taped a message for him.

"My heart filled with dread - she couldn't even be bothered to do it live," Les wrote. "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."

After it had all died down a bit in 2014, Neil finally said sorry to Les for the affair he had with his then-wife Amanda. Neil shared his grovelling apology on Piers Morgan's Life Stories. He said: "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 has been with husband Chris Hughes for 20 years and they share two kids together (noholdenback/Instagram)

The couple suffered the heartbreaking stillbirth of their son Theo (INSTAGRAM)

Neil made the comment when he was asked by Piers if he had ever apologised to Les, to which he replied: "No, I didn't. I'm not positive over what there is to apologise about. I don't know what the whole situation was, to be perfectly fair to everybody." He added: "This was a very short fling. I didn't have representation at the time, in terms of PR and this was the first time I'd really come under the cosh."

Les was dating PR executive Leoni Cotgrove when their divorce was finalised. He has been married to his third wife, Claire Nicholson, since 2009 and they share two children, daughter Eleanor and son Thomas. While Amanda moved on with record producer, Chris Hughes, who she is still with today. The pair met in 2003 and dated for seven years before getting married in 2010.

They currently live in Surrey in an extravagant £5million mansion, which has recently been put on the market, and share two daughters, Lexie, 17, and Hollie, 11. In 2010, Amanda heartbreakingly delivered their son, Theo, stillborn at 28 weeks. She remembered her late son during Baby Loss Awareness Week 2022 on Instagram and wrote: "I am honoured you chose us to be your parents for a moment on earth but forever in our hearts. Our angel boy."

In a recent chat with OK! Magazine, Amanda spilled the beans on what makes her marriage to Chris work so well - and she puts it down to lots of laughter. The TV judge revealed: "The main secret behind a successful marriage is to have a bloody good sense of humour! Plus, I really fancy Chris. We'll be eating dinner in a restaurant, he'll go to the loo, then I'll look up and catch a glimpse of a man and think he's fit! Then I'll realise, 'Gosh, that's my husband!' I still fancy him."

She told HELLO! in 2019: "Chris is very funny and errs on the side of lightness. We can make jokes out of any situation throughout the best and darkest times of our lives. He's rubbish at romance, but he's there for the solid things such as keeping my car clean and making sure I relax."

Nia Dalton