Les Dennis has admitted he "should have known" his marriage to Amanda Holden might not work, recalling an awkward encounter with a plumber during their time together.
The former couple were married from 1995 to 2003, having been together for a total of 10 years. Speaking on the Very Very Sherrie podcast earlier this year, the 73-year-old was asked about his marriage to Amanda and their 17-year age gap.
Plumber's comment
Host Sherrie Hewson recalled her initial reaction to their relationship, telling him: "I remember going to you, 'She's too young what are you doing? You silly old fool'."
Les then recalled an encounter with a plumber who visited their home in Highgate. While discussing the Grand National at the time, he said the plumber referred to Amanda as a "kid".
"So yeah I should've known," he laughed. Sherrie replied: "I felt that about you, I think I said it you as well, 'It's not going to work'."
"Probably," he laughed. "Everybody said it to each other but nobody said it to me!"
Reflecting on the relationship
The podcast host went on to suggest that being with Amanda "wasn't such a bad mistake", to which Les replied: "We had been together for 10 years and it was what it was seven years married and 10 years together, it was alright."
The pair first met in 1993 while starring in a stage production of The Sound of Music. They temporarily separated in 2000 following Amanda's affair with actor Neil Morrissey, before splitting permanently in 2002 and finalising their divorce the following year.
Previously reflecting on the end of their relationship on Amanda and Alan's Greek Job, Amanda told her co-star Alan Carr: "I mean, obviously we've both been through a divorce, we've both made mistakes, and as much as I regret hurting people, maybe, or causing chaos, it shapes you to who you are in this moment."
She added: "And I think life is too short to have regrets."
Public perception and new beginnings
Amanda, who is a judge on Britain's Got Talent, has also spoken about how the ITV show helped change public perceptions of her following the media attention surrounding her infidelity.
In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, she said: "People might not have thought I was a girls' girl when I went into Britain's Got Talent, because there were all the stories about me."
"But any myths people might have believed, with tabloid headlines to do with marriages and affairs, were dispelled by what people saw."
In the same interview, Amanda also admitted to being a fan of Family Fortunes, which Les hosted from 1987 to 2002. "I thought Les was brilliant on it and I loved it," she gushed.
The Heart Radio presenter married her second husband, Chris Hughes, in 2008, and the couple share two daughters. Previously opening up about their successful marriage, she told Hello! Magazine: "We have ups and downs like everyone else."
"But when I was looking at the pain and suffering that some of the people we were working with were going through, I felt so grateful that I had somebody in my life with no complications."
Les has since married again following his divorce from Amanda. He tied the knot with Claire Nicholson in 2009, and the couple have three children together.
