Amanda Holden has revealed she was pulled over by the police alongside Alan Carr whilst filming their new show, Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job.
The pair made the revelation this morning on Heart Breakfast, telling radio host Jamie Theakston that they were stopped by cops in Sicily, where the X Factor judge purchased a derelict ‘one euro home’.
Amanda, 51, said that the authorities ‘were pretty mean’ but the pair joked that they instead ‘turned on the charm’, with the comedian, 46, comparing his best friend to old-time American movie star Mae West during the ordeal.
“No one’s really talked about you getting arrested,” Alan protested during their live on-air interview.
“What?”, DJ Jamie responded, causing Amanda to say: “Yeah there’s a police incident, you have to watch that!
“It was so funny, we were pulled over by the police,” Amanda added, explaining a little more about what happened. “There’s a whole show! They were pretty mean, ‘til we turned on the charm.
Alan confirmed that they were able to dig themselves out of their hole at the time, adding: “We turned on the charm, she turned into Mae West - ‘hey that’s a lovely buckle on your trousers!’”
Amanda revealed exactly what she said to the police officer: “I love your belt buckle!”
Airing tonight for the first time at 8.30pm on BBC1, viewers will see the actress investing into two fixer-upper apartments in the stunning Salemi commune on the southwestern part of the island.
Bringing her best pal Alan along with her, the pair foster their own ‘la dolce vita’ as they get to work renovating the properties to create a dream Italian home, the synopsis for the series explains.
But they soon realise that it’s going to take a while for the collapsing property to become the backdrop to their Italian holiday.
Back in 2021, many towns and municipalities in Italy began selling derelict homes for just one euro each.
In April that year, the Sicilian town of Castiglione di Sicilia offered up 900 abandoned houses in a bid to breathe new life into the area.
The town lies on the slopes of Mount Etna and near to the beaches of Sicily’s picturesque east coast.
Officials hoped to sell off hundreds of homes in the town that have been abandoned.
About half of them are ruined and many were sold off for a symbolic price of just one Euro. The rest are in a better condition and were sold off for low prices.
