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<\/p>\nLes Dennis’s rare confession about his ex wife Amanda Holden has been revealed – as he became the first star to be booted of Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night.<\/p>\n
The TV personality, 69, – who left the show with his pro partner Nancy Xu – recently made a surprising confession about his former love after their difficult past.<\/p>\n
Rewind 30 years, in 1993 the Family Fortunes host, then 40, met and fell in love with Amanda\u00a0who was 22 and establishing her own stage career, when they were both starring in a production of The Sound Of Music.<\/p>\n
After treading the boards together in Bournemouth, they married two years later in 1995 in a lavish ceremony with a magazine spread and luxury trimmings to boot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Five years later though, things came to a crashing close when it was revealed that Amanda had an affair with her Happy Birthday Shakespeare co-star Neil Morrissey – something she later insisted was ‘just about sex’.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The past: Les Dennis’s rare confession about his ex wife Amanda Holden has been revealed – as he became the first star to be booted of Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night<\/p>\n
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Dancing: The TV personality, 69, – who left the show with his pro partner Nancy Xu (pictured) – recently made a surprising confession about his former love after their difficult past<\/p>\n
After a brief split in 2000, they reunited yet called it quits for good in 2002.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And speaking to The Sunday Times recently Les said he was over what happened and was happy for her in her new life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said: ‘Amanda was in the papers recently, saying some nice things about me. That was very kind of her. Maybe with time she has been able to look back and see things differently.<\/p>\n
‘We’re not in touch but I am happy that she’s happy. I can watch Britain’s Got Talent without getting angry. To be honest, it’s like watching a different person, someone I’ve never met. All the hurt that has happened has been healed.’<\/p>\n
Les – who is now married to his third wife Claire Nicholson –\u00a0even considered the prospect of Amanda playing herself in the movie of his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking on the White Wine Question Time podcast, Les opened up about the idea of a hypothetical biopic saying: ‘I suppose Amanda would have to be there.<\/p>\n
‘It’s a chapter in my life that was huge, and I have no idea who to cast in that role.’<\/p>\n
Speaking about the split afterwards, Amanda said: ‘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’.<\/p>\n
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Before: Rewind 30 years, in 1993 the Family Fortunes host, then 40, met and fell in love with Amanda who was 22 and establishing her own stage career, when they were both starring in a production of The Sound Of Music (seen in 2000)\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Sexy stuff:\u00a0Five years later though, things came to a crashing close when it was revealed that Amanda had an affair with her Happy Birthday Shakespeare co-star Neil Morrissey – something she later insisted was ‘just about sex’ (Neil and Amanda seen in 2003)<\/p>\n
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Pain:\u00a0Speaking about the split afterwards, Amanda said: ‘I brought it on myself, I appreciate that, but nothing will ever be as bad again’ (the couple seen in 2000)<\/p>\n
She later said: ‘In some ways, I’ve always admired him for the way he doesn’t try to hide his real emotions. He’s honest about how he feels…<\/p>\n
‘My trouble is that I’m a people pleaser. I might feel down in the dumps but I’ll always put on a bright face for the rest of the world…<\/p>\n
‘And I’m ruled by my heart, not my head. I always have been and it gets me into trouble. I’m not an enigma. I’ve wished all my life that I could be mysterious…<\/p>\n
‘But I ain’t. I don’t know what it is about me but people have always picked up on the slightest comment or some insignificant thing I’ve done, and suddenly I’m all over the papers again.’<\/p>\n
In 2014 Neil finally said sorry to game show host Les for the affair he had with his then-wife Amanda. The star, who has previously said he had not apologised to Les, made the admission on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories.<\/p>\n
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 sorry.’<\/p>\n
His comment came after 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.’<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Les tickled fans when he appeared to take a swipe at his ex wife after she posted a slew of saucy snaps from Paris to her Instagram.<\/p>\n
Les sent tongues wagging after he seemingly took a jab at his former partner’s post.<\/p>\n
Amanda shared an array of snaps of herself out for an evening in the French capital.<\/p>\n
Les then cheekily posted a snap from his less than luxurious dressing room – as he tours the country with musical 42nd Street – writing: ‘Not in Paris. In Leicester’.<\/p>\n
Les has been married to\u00a0Claire Nicholson since 2009 after meeting in 2005. They have a daughter Grace, 15, and son Thomas, 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prior to his marriage to Amanda\u00a0Les was married to Lynn Webster, with whom he shares son Phillip, from 1974 to 1990.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Over: Les said he’d had a great time on the show after losing in the dance off against BBC Asian presenter Nikita Kanda<\/p>\n
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His love:\u00a0Les has been married to Claire Nicholson since 2009 after meeting in 2005. They have a daughter Grace, 15, and son Thomas, 12 (Les and Claire in 2019)<\/p>\n
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Happy couple:\u00a0Amanda wed her music producer Chris Hughes husband in 2008 (pictured together in 2014)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amanda meanwhile has been married to Chris Hughes since 2009 and they share two daughters.In July, Les recalled the surprising first time he laid eyes on\u00a0Chris.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a strange twist of fate Les was managed by Chris’ dad Mike Hughes at the beginning of career and first met the record producer when he was a small child.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking on\u00a0White Wine Question Time with Kate Thornton he said: ‘I tell this story in my book that when Mike became my manager in 1973 and Lynne and I were about to get married \u2013 my first wife, Lynne \u2013 we were excited that Mike had become my manager’.<\/p>\n
‘She said, ‘let’s drive past his house’ because he lived on Queens Drive in Liverpool, we passed, and the curtains were open, and I went, “look, there he is”, and we saw Mike Hughes picking up a little child and swinging the child around’.<\/p>\n