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

Les Dennis revealed that he ‘should have known’ his high-profile marriage to Amanda Holden wasn’t going to last after a comment a plumber made.

Holden, 52, and Dennis, 70, got hitched in 1995, after meeting on a stage show production of The Sound of Music.

They tied the knot when he was 40 and she was 23, but ended up splitting in 2000 after her affair with Neil Morrissey was revealed, becoming officially separated in 2002 before divorcing a year later.

Holden has previously spoken out about the fall-out from her affair with Morrissey, best known for starring in Men Behaving Badly, saying it was the ‘worst time of her life’.

Speaking to the Express in 2009, she said: “I found the fall from grace incredibly hard to deal with.

“I can’t bear not to be liked. Then I had an affair and overnight turned into this awful person.

“There are no hard feelings with Les. I wish him the best but we’ve both moved on.”

Commenting on their short-lived marriage, Dennis has previously shared the interaction he had with a plumber, which he says should have let him ‘know’ his marriage wasn’t going to last.

Twitter/@LesDennis

In an interview with Richard Herring, he said that everyone was ‘waiting’ for their marriage to go wrong but joked that ‘nobody told [him]’.

He went on: “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, ‘we 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.”

Despite the affair, earlier this year, Dennis said he has no hard feelings towards his ex wife having 'healed' before saying that he’s ‘happy that she’s happy’.

Gareth Davies/Getty Images

Speaking to The Times, 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. We’re not in touch but I am happy that she’s happy."

He went on: "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."

Topics: Amanda Holden, Celebrity

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]