Les Dennis knew marriage with Amanda Holden was over after he heard what plumber said

Comedian Les Dennis has admitted that his marriage with Amanda Holden wouldn't have lasted after overhearing what a plumber once said about the pair.

Now 71, the TV star has been married to Claire Nicholson since 2009 and shares two children with her. But years before that, the former host of ITV's Family Fortunes was married to media personality Amanda Holden from 1995 until 2003.

Their romance wouldn't last though, in a relationship that was highly scrutinised by the British media, mostly due to the pair's 18-year age gap.

Years on from their split, Dennis admitted that he 'should have known' that their relationship wouldn't stand the test of time.

Speaking to Richard Herring in 2019, the comedian opened up about how they didn't pay too much attention to criticism from the public, and it may have been doomed from the start.

Dennis claimed he knew it was over pretty soon after it began with Holden (Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

Dennis met Holden during the stage show production of The Sound of Music, and their love quickly blossomed into a marriage, with the latter being just 24 at the time.

Reflecting on their relationship, Dennis said that it all started to go downhill when a plumber was at their Highgate home to fix a washing machine.

While going about his work, he made a remark that stuck with Dennis.

Though they were one of the country's most popular couples, he didn't recognise them at all.

Dennis admitted that while people were 'waiting' for his marriage with Holden to go up in flames, he said that 'nobody told' him it would happen as soon as it did.

Recalling that the handyman was over on Grand National Day to fix their dishwasher, he recalled: "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," he admitted.

Holden remembered the incident and found it funny (Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

Holden also admitted that she remembered the story when replying to a fan in June 2019, admitting: "I remember this," after seeing a clip of him talking about it.

The 54-year-old, who has been married to music producer Chris Hughes since 2008, even added three laughing emojis and a heart to the end of her tweet.

It's good to see that there's no bad blood between the two!

Years later, it was revealed that the radio host was having an affair with Neil Morrissey, best known for his role on Line of Duty.

Dennis and Holden would separate in 2002 before finalising their divorce in 2003, with the latter even speaking about the 'fall from grace' in the eyes of the media.

"There are no hard feelings with Les. I wish him the best, but we've both moved on," she said of their split.