Birth name Amanda Louise Holden

Birthday 16 February 1971

Star sign Aquarius

Birthplace Portsmouth

Marriages Les Dennis, June 1995 – November 2003. Chris Hughes, December 2008 – present

Amanda Holden was born to dad Frank and mum Judith in 1971. She has a younger sister called Debbie.

Her father left when she was 4. After her mum remarried, Amanda started referring to her stepfather Leslie as her dad.

The family grew up in Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire. Amanda loved to perform and eventually graduated from Mountview Theatre School.

As well as acting in theatre, Amanda Holden made her TV debut when she appeared as a contestant on Blind Date in 1991.

The actress landed brief roles in television shows In Suspicious Circumstances and EastEnders before marrying actor and comedian Les Dennis in 1995.

Amanda became a regular face on TV in the 1990s. She starred in the likes of Goodness Gracious Me, Kiss Me Kate and The Grimleys.

In 2000 Amanda Holden hit the headlines when it was revealed by a newspaper that she’d had a brief affair with actor Neil Morrissey.

She and Les stayed together but split shortly after Les appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2002.

Amanda continued to star in various TV shows such as Cutting It, Agatha Christie’s Marple and Wild At Heart and also impressed in the West End show Thoroughly Modern Millie.

She did presenting work and landed a role as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent in 2007.

Amanda and her new love Chris Hughes welcomed their first child, a daughter called Alexa, in 2006. The couple married in 2008.

After suffering a miscarriage in 2010, Amanda tragically had a stillborn baby boy seven months into her pregnancy in 2011.

She went on to have another little girl, Hollie, in 2012 but nearly died during a traumatic labour. She had to stay in intensive care for four days after the birth.

In 2013 Amanda Holden released her autobiography and has remained a regular face on television.

She became a presenter on This Morning alongside Phillip Schofield to cover Holly Willoughby’s maternity leave in September 2014.