Amanda Holden has revealed a strict household rule that her husband Chris has branded "ridiculous" – but she is now making a U-turn as the weather turns colder.
During a conversation on Heart Breakfast about rules that others might find baffling, the presenter and her co-host Jamie Theakston each shared some of their own. Jamie confessed he had been told off by his wife for switching on the "big light," with Amanda declaring she was "100 per cent in agreement" with the advice to use a lamp instead.
Ban on the 'winter dining room'
Sharing the rule in her own home, Amanda revealed she has banned her husband Chris and their two daughters Lexi and Hollie from using the "winter dining room."
She explained: "We've got, this makes it sound grand, but we've got a dining room which I love. It's got [black and gold decor] and it's beautiful but I call it the winter dining room and no one's allowed in there."
Throughout the summer months, the family had been dining outside or in the kitchen, but she is now prepared to open the dining room as the temperatures drop.
Family reaction and U-turn
"Everyone's like, 'Can we use the dining room?' and I'm like, 'No!' because it's the winter dining room and the doors are always shut. And Chris is like, 'This is ridiculous!' But now he's saying to me, 'Is it winter? Are we allowed to use the winter dining room?'"
"And I'm going to say, [after] the last couple of days, it is officially winter! It's open, we can use the winter dining room," she declared.
During the same instalment of Heart Breakfast, Amanda was interrupted by her co-presenter when she let slip a home "secret." Following the introduction of a competition for listeners, giving them the opportunity to win a luxury break with their pets, she enquired what the "most special moment" Jamie had experienced with his cats was.
Secret cuddles and rescue pets
Before he could respond, she interjected, revealing: "My husband has secret cuddles with some of our pets. He favours some of them. He goes off and has secret cuddles," she repeated, before Jamie intervened to close down the conversation. "Okay, maybe now is a good time to wrap that up," he suggested, eager to move on, as Amanda chuckled.
This follows The Celebrity Inner Circle presenter joking that she might be risking divorce proceedings if she chooses to foster anymore animals. An ambassador for Battersea Dogs and Cats, she already has seven rescue pets at home, comprising three dogs and four cats.
Having recently welcomed rescue Tibetan Terrier Dolly into the family, she confessed that Chris was feeling "overwhelmed" by the mayhem she was creating. "We don't know where she comes from but she's definitely still learning, just basics like going down the stairs and not bumping into windows and getting right under my legs while cooking, things like that," she said.
Amanda described Dolly as a "thief" who enjoyed pinching belongings such as keys and Chris' Invisalign aligners for his teeth. "He has threatened a divorce in the past if I rescue anymore creatures," she revealed last month. "Although I would happily adopt more cats but I'd lose my husband over it and I still love him quite a lot so I don't want to lose him."
The Celebrity Inner Circle airs tonight at 5.30pm on BBC One.
