Les Dennis knew marriage to Amanda Holden wouldn’t last after he heard remark from his plumber

Les Dennis once admitted that he more or less knew his marriage to Amanda Holden wouldn't last, after a passing comment from a plumber.

The TV star and comedian is best known for hosting ITV's Family Fortunes from 1987-2002.

While speaking to Richard Herring back in 2019, Dennis revealed that he 'should have known' that his romance with the Britain's Got Talent judge was short-lived.

Holden and Dennis tied the knot in 1995 after meeting during a stage show production of The Sound of Music, with many being critical of the couple's 18-year age gap.

Despite neither of the pair caring too much about the outside noise, they would both later admit they were sceptical about their future after settling into marriage life, when Holden was just 22.

Apparently, the domino that started it all was when they called a plumber to help fix their washing machine at their Highgate home and he made a casual remark.

At the time, the pair were one of the British media's most famous and well-known couples, so it was odd that the handyman didn't recognise them.

But nonetheless, Dennis told Herring that while everyone was 'waiting' for their marriage to go down, he joked that 'nobody told (him)' that it would come so soon.

He explained: "I remember one day in our house in Highgate, it was Grand National Day, and the plumber was there to fix the washing machine.

"And Amanda came running and said, ‘@e need to put a bet on’, so [I gave her] ten quid and she went, ‘Oh we need to put more than that on’. So I went, ‘Twenty?’

"And the plumber went, ‘Kids, eh?’ Maybe I should have known then."

Les Dennis admitted that he should have known about the long-term future of their relationship (Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

It turns out the short statement also firmly lodged itself in Holden's memory.

Replying to a fan in June 2019 who shared the clip of Dennis, she wrote: "I remember this."

Holden added three laughing emojis as well as a heart at the end of her tweet, suggesting there are no hard feelings between the pair.

It was revealed years down the line that the Brit starlet had been having an affair with Line of Duty star Neil Morrissey, so she and Dennis officially separated in 2002 before divorcing the following year.

Holden said she 'found the fall from grace incredibly hard to deal with', as she 'can't bear not to be liked' but had turned into 'an awful person overnight'.

Discussing their split previously, she said: "There are no hard feelings with Les. I wish him the best, but we've both moved on. I don't believe women have affairs for no reason. Women don't seek sex - we seek love and affirmation."

Holden saw the funny side of the story (Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

Shortly after their break-up, Holden made a 'brutal' confession about her feelings towards Dennis while explaining that she was the one who spearheaded their divorce.

She said: "I terribly want children but I didn't want to have them with Les. That's a horribly brutal thing to say, but when you do, you know you have to move on."

So basically, it seems the plumber could have saved them both a lot of time, money and bother.