Amanda Holden posts adorable snap of husband Chris Hughes in sweet Father’s Day tribute
Sharing the secret behind a successful marriage, she previously told OK! magazine: “The main secret behind a successful marriage is to have a bloody good sense of humour! Plus, I really fancy Chris. We’ll be eating dinner in a restaurant, he’ll go to the loo, then I’ll look up and catch a glimpse of a man and think he’s fit! Then I’ll realise, ‘Gosh, that’s my husband!’ I still fancy him.”
She continued: “Also, Chris challenges me and I challenge him – that’s another secret to a good marriage.” And while Amanda happily speaks about her enviable union with Chris, she hasn’t always been as lucky in love – and her doomed marriage to former TV presenter Les Dennis was a prime example of this. The TV star married Les, who was best known for hosting quiz show Family Fortunes, in 1995. But she ended up having an affair with Men Behaving Badly actor Neil Morrissey.
Amanda was only 22 when she tied the knot with Les, who is 18 older than her. They were married for eight years until her affair came to light, ending their relationship. Speaking about the breakdown of her relationship, she previously told the 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. 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.”
She had said in the past that she believes women have affairs for a reason. She once told Good Housekeeping magazine: “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 continued: “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.” In 2014, Neil finally apologised to Les for the affair with Amanda.