Denise van Outen insisted she won't be taken advantage of as she broke her silence on her split from Eddie Boxshall.
Denise confirmed her split from fiancé Eddie after seven years together in January after reportedly discovering he'd been sending X-rated messages to other women.
Sharing her devastation, she wrote on Instagram at the time: "Over the past couple of months, there has been much speculation regarding my relationship with Eddie.
"It saddens me to confirm that we are no longer a couple. I had to make the difficult decision not to continue in our relationship.
"I will always treasure the good times we spent together, and the memories made."
She added: "We ask that you please respect our privacy at this time, especially for our children," followed by a heart emoji.
Speaking of the break up for the first time since then, the 47-year-old said on Radio 2 this morning: "The one thing I’m really proud of myself for is I do know when to walk away and I don’t like to be taken advantage of.
"Sometimes it’s been to the detriment of my own career or in my own relationships, but I just feel like it’s really important as a woman to have self-worth and self-respect.
"I’ve always tried to maintain that in anything that I do in life, generally. More so now as a mother because I feel like I’m a role model and I’ve got to set an example."
She added: "Do you know what? The bad times are always followed by good times and that’s what I always look forward to.
"I think you just ride the wave of the bad times knowing that eventually you will get to a good place."
On the other hand, Eddie has said the break up has had a big effect on his health.
He recently shard on Instagram alongside a picture of himself at the gym: "I’m just back into my training as I lost over a stone in weight due to stress and anxiety over the last four months."
He added: "Exercise helps my mental health as well."
Denise and Eddie began dating in 2014 when they were introduced to each other by a mutual friend.
Despite being broken up, Eddie recently praised Denise in a social media post on International Women's Day.
He shared that even though they weren't still together, he still thought of her as the "most driven woman in her business".
He called their time together "wonderful" and said she was as "amazing mummy" to her daughter Betsy, 11, who she shares with ex Lee Mead.
He penned: "Regardless of us sadly going our separate ways I have to acknowledge that in our wonderful 7 and a half year relationship I witnessed the hardest working and most driven woman in her business and amazing mummy to Betsy."
