Amanda Holden has opened up about steering clear of plastic surgery, the "traditional" role she plays at home, and the one thing she always wants from her husband, Chris Hughes, as she prepares for the return of The Celebrity Inner Circle.
Holden, who has co-judged Britain's Got Talent for nearly 20 years, said staying relevant in television means never becoming precious. "You can't be a snob about stuff. You have to keep an open mind to keep going. You have to be the Queen of Reinvention, otherwise it will all stop," she said. She admitted she has thought BGT might be ending before, "but I thought that when we'd done ten years. I'm just bloody grateful for all of it."
Radio mornings and a new project with Alan Carr
On top of BGT and hosting the quiz show The Inner Circle, Holden gets up early each weekday to co-host the Heart Radio breakfast show alongside Jamie Theakston. "Jamie is the pilot, I'm the air steward with the gin and tonic up the back," she said. "I just tell stories about my day and enjoy myself."
She has also filmed Amanda & Alan's Italian Job and its Spanish and Greek sequels with comedian Alan Carr. She revealed the pair are "just about to sign for a new show" but could not say more, joking that Carr had kept it secret despite once blurting out that he'd won The Traitors within a non-disclosure agreement.
Holden said the BBC's Head of Commissioning for Entertainment backed her for The Inner Circle because they wanted someone "dangerous but friendly." "I've got a naughty sense of humour. I'm definitely not a run-of-the-mill autocue-reading blonde presenter, for sure," she said. She helped develop the show by improvising in rehearsals before it launched last year.
How the Inner Circle format and Split or Shaft work
Six contestants are each given a pot of money to build up by running to answers on a game board, forming alliances and voting each other out, before the final two face off. The second series of The Celebrity Inner Circle sees each contestant paired with a famous friend, and airs on Saturdays in primetime, just before Strictly.
The finale, inspired by Jasper Carrott's Golden Balls, is called Split Or Shaft. The last two players discuss the prize money before secretly voting to share or steal it; if one betrays a trusting partner, they take everything. "It blows my mind what people say when they're trying to insist they're not going to shaft the other person," Holden said. "They use God. They use families. They use sickness. 'I'm a church-goer, my faith wouldn't allow me to double-cross you.' Then they do exactly that!" She suggested the state of the economy might explain why people choose to betray: "I think people think, 'Sod it, I'll never see them again. I'm taking the money.'" Asked what she would do herself, she said: "Shaft, of course!" though she added she might spare an elderly contestant in genuine need, or try to split winnings afterwards, an option producers have ruled illegal in the past.
Alan Carr's big year
Holden said she would call on Carr for tips on deception. The pair bought and renovated two rundown properties in Sicily for one euro each in 2023. Since then Carr appeared on The Celebrity Traitors, lying to castmates while winning over viewers. "It's like everyone's suddenly heard of him when he's been funny for years," Holden said. "What an unbelievable year he's had and long may it last."
Their DIY renovation series has been paused while Carr works on a solo project, doing up a castle in Scotland for a Disney+ series, meaning he skipped their annual holiday together for the first time in four years. "We have been friends for years, but making shows together has brought us closer. Alan has watched my girls grow up and has really good banter with them, especially my younger one," Holden said.
Family life with Chris Hughes and staying camera-ready
Holden's husband, Chris Hughes, is a record producer and music manager. She now manages herself with his advice. "I talk to him all day long about everything," she said. The couple have two daughters, Lexi, 20, and Hollie, 14.
Born in 1971, Holden grew up on the south coast before training at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in Peckham. She now lives at a home in Surrey with a pool, as well as a property in the Cotswolds. She said she avoids plastic surgery, relying instead on creams, tans and treatments, and works as a brand ambassador for a collagen company. "You need to put money on the table and pay the mortgage like anyone else," she said.
With more than three million Instagram followers, Holden posts everything from bikini shots to herself pegging out washing or walking the dog. "I really don't scroll down to what all the t**ts on keyboards are saying," she said of online trolls. She compared her approach to peers who have branched out recently, including Claudia Winkleman's short-lived chat show, Holly Willoughby's YouTube venture and Davina McCall's wellness and menopause podcasts and books, saying being open to change is essential in a difficult industry.
This year's Celebrity Inner Circle line-up
The new series features TikToker Joe Baggs and YouTuber Max Fosh alongside former athlete Denise Lewis, Dragons' Den star Sara Davies and Coronation Street actress Claire Sweeney. Holden admitted she doesn't always recognise the younger names but uses their following to boost her own numbers by joining their dance routines.
Her own favourite quiz show is Family Fortunes, which she grew up watching when Bob Monkhouse presented it, and which her first husband, comedian Les Dennis, later hosted for eight years during their marriage. "I thought Les was brilliant on it and I loved it," she said.
Divorce, an affair and Britain's Got Talent
Holden and Dennis divorced in 2003 after she had an affair with actor Neil Morrissey, which drew intense media attention still present four years later when Simon Cowell chose her to judge Britain's Got Talent. "People might not have thought I was a girls' girl when I went into Britain's Got Talent, because there were all the stories about me. But any myths people might have believed... were dispelled by what people saw," she said. "It was the first time I was able to show who I really am. Simon always says I owe him for that."
Advice for her daughters and traditional role at home
Holden said her elder daughter, Lexi, now at university, has been signed by the Storm modelling agency and is doing some modelling work. Reports that mother and daughter might appear together on a Channel 4 show are not happening, Holden said. "There's just no way my children would ever do a reality show. Well, the youngest one might end up on Love Island, she's a different kettle of fish. Certainly not Lexi," she said, adding that Hollie can sing, dance and act but hates classmates asking if Holden is her mother.
Despite starting the Heart breakfast show at five each morning, Holden said it takes only 40 minutes to reach the studio and lets her avoid the school run, leaving her husband to handle disputes over Hollie's makeup. She still collects Hollie from school, and the family has taken in more rescue animals, three dogs and two cats, since Lexi left for university.
Holden does the cooking most nights. "I'm quite traditional in the way I like to have a family meal on the table most evenings," she said, adding that her mother and grandmother did the same despite working. In return, she said she expects one thing from Hughes: praise. "I say to my husband, 'I slaved over this and no one has said it's nice. I was up at five!'... I definitely need some attention for making the tea!"
The Celebrity Inner Circle, hosted by Amanda Holden, returns to BBC1 on Saturday, September 12.
