Holden speaks about Morrissey affair row

Amanda Holden has described the controversy which surrounded her affair with Neil Morrissey as "horrendous".

The actress's image was left in tatters after she was exposed for having a fling with the Men Behaving Badly star while she was married to Les Dennis. Amanda was later given a second chance by Les, but their relationship never recovered from her betrayal and they separated in December 2002.

In an interview with Woman and Home magazine, Holden explained: "The backlash over my affair with Neil Morrissey was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Up to that point I'd never been in any major trouble and I found the fall from grace incredibly hard to deal with. I can't bear not to be liked and I've always been a people pleaser.

"I was a prefect at school, I never had a tattoo, got a detention or pierced my ears more than once. Then I had an affair and overnight turned into this awful person."

She added: "Les has always been a bit of a national treasure, and Neil had that whole Men Behaving Badly image. It was perfect headline material but a horrendous thing to go through. There are no hard feelings with Les, I wish him the best but we've both moved on."

The Britain's Got Talent judge is planning to marry her new partner, music producer Chris Hughes, next year. Meanwhile, Les and his fiancée Claire Nicholson have just welcomed the arrival of their first child together.