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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Brogan-Leigh Hurst

Amanda Holden's doomed marriage to Les Dennis and wild affair with Neil Morrissey

Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden is happily married to husband Chris Hughes - but many forget she previously tied the knot with Les Dennis.

The 51-year-old mum-of-two got hitched for the first time in 1995, but her marriage to the well-loved television presenter, 68, appeared to be doomed from the start as she ended up having an affair with Men Behaving Badly's Neil Morrissey, 59.

Amanda was only 22 when she married comedian Les.

The former couple - who had an 18-year age gap - met while performing in The Sound of Music in 1993.

They were married for eight years - but Amanda's unfaithfulness is ultimately what ended their romance.

Les Dennis wedding to Amanda Holden in June 1995 (Phil Yeomans)
The pair were together until 2002 (Alan Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)

In 2000, Amanda cheated on Les with Neil, while starring in Happy Birthday Shakespeare on BBC.

Two years after her five-week fling with the Line of Duty actor, they decided to give things another go, but they called it quits in 2002.

Amanda has always spoken highly of Les and revealed that it was the "worst time of her life".

She told 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.

Amanda Holden with Neil Morrissey (Miramax)

"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."

Previously, Amanda revealed she doesn't think women have affairs for no reason.

"I don't believe women have affairs for no reason.

"Neil rightly or wrongly got loads of stick. I feel like it was my fault - I was the one who was married."

She added to Good Housekeeping: "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."

After it had all died down a bit in 2014, Neil finally said sorry to Les for the affair he had with his then-wife Amanda.

Neil shared his grovelling apology on Piers Morgan's Life Stories.

He said: "I feel sorry for how the situation was dealt with and I feel sorry for how emotional Les seemed to become. It was very difficult for him and for that I'm very sorry."

Neil Morrissey as Will Green and Amanda Holden as Alice in a romantic comedy (BBC)

Neil made the comment when he was asked by Piers if he had ever apologised to Les, to which he replied: "No, I didn't. I'm not positive over what there is apologise about. I don't know what the whole situation was, to be perfectly fair to everybody."

When asked why he has never spoken about it before, he shared: "I think enough was said about it. This was a very short fling. I didn't have representation at the time, in terms of PR and this was the first time I'd really come under the cosh."

Since then, Amanda has found everlasting love in her record producer husband Chris - who she shares daughters Lexi and Hollie with.

She is now married to husband Chris Hughes (noholdenback/Instagram)

The pair met in 2003 and dated for seven years before getting married in 2010.

Meanwhile, Les married Claire Nicholson in 2009 and the pair have been happy together ever since.

Amanda has appeared on our screens on Saturday nights once again, as Britain's Got Talent made a return.

She is joined by Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams on the judging panel.

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