Amanda Holden has opened up about her marriage to ex-husband Les Dennis.
Radio host and TV star Amanda, 52, married Garston-born comedian Les, 69, in 1995 after they met on set of a stage production of The Sound of Music. At the time of their wedding, she was 23 and he was 40.
In 2000, it came to light that they had split up following Amanda's highly-publicised affair with Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey. The affair began when they both starred in the BBC film 'Happy Birthday Shakespeare' and it led to the end of Amanda and Les' marriage, reports The Mirror.
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Previously speaking about the impact that the breakup had on her, Amanda told the Daily 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.”
In an interview with The Times today, Amanda again addressed her marriage to Les. She was asked whether she was looking for a father figure in the comedian, who is 17 years her senior.
She said: "I don’t know because I’ve never done therapy, but there is a sort of safety in a relationship like that. I was very young and I had a lot to learn about life.”
Amanda and Les briefly reconciled after the affair, but they ended up splitting for good in 2002. In an interview with Good Housekeeping, Amanda said she didn’t believe women have affairs for no reason.
She said: "Neil rightly or wrongly got loads of stick. I feel like it was my fault - I was the one who was married.
"I want to change the general perception of him, as he was very caring and very loving and very worried about me because I lost so much weight. He used to cook for me and look after me and babysit the dogs."
Since their split Amanda and Les have both found love again. The Britain's Got Talent star married record producer Chris in 2010, while Les married his third wife Claire Richardson in 2009.
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