Yahoo News Les Dennis has 'healed' hurt of split from ex-wife Amanda Holden: I'm happy she's happy
The former gameshow host said "All the hurt that has happened has been healed."
Les Dennis has forgiven ex-wife Amanda Holden over 20 years after they split, following her affair with Neil Morrissey.
The 69-year-old actor, comedian and gameshow host was married the Britain's Got Talent judge in 1995 and they split after she admitted cheating on him with Men Behaving Madly and Line of Duty star Morrisey.
Dennis told The Times: "Amanda was in the papers recently, saying some nice things about me. That was very kind of her.
Read more: Les Dennis pokes fun at ex Amanda Holden’s holiday snaps
"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."
Holden, 52, was 17 years younger than Dennis and just 24 when she married him in 1995.
She told The Times in March: “I don’t know because I’ve never done therapy, but there is a sort of safety in a relationship like that.
“I was very young and I had a lot to learn about life.”
Dennis — who is starring in musical 42nd Street at Leicester's Curve theatre — and Holden were married between 1995 and 2003.
When they tied the knot he was a successful primetime gameshow host — presenting Family Fortunes from 1987 to 2002 — and she was an aspiring actor and model.
They separated temporarily in 2000 following revelations of her affair with 60-year-old Morrissey after they starred together in BBC film Happy Birthday Shakespeare.
Dennis recently parodied Holden's holiday pictures, apparently comparing her glamorous trip to Paris with his dressing room in a local theatre in Leicester.
In 2021 he made a joke about the affair, admitting listening to Bob The Builder, voiced by Morrissey, was his idea of torture.
Since their marriage ended Holden has gone to become a successful primetime TV star and radio DJ while Dennis took part in Celebrity Big Brother in 2002, heartbroken and depressed.
He then made light of his fading fame on sitcom Extras in 2005.
Dennis - who most recently guest hosted Countdown and appeared in Death In Paradise - married current wife Clare Nicholson in 2009 and the couple now have two children.
Holden married record producer Chris Hughes in 2008. They share two daughters - Hollie, 11, and 17-year-old Alexa - and had stillborn son Theo in 2011.
Read more: Amanda Holden slams reports of Holly Willoughby feud as 'utter rubbish'
Holden said in 2009 that Dennis had been her saviour after her affair with Morrissey was made public. She said: “Les proved to be my saviour. Ironically. So the person I’d hurt the most in the world was the one who was there for me.”
Watch: Amanda Holden would like to see Dermot O'Leary replace Phillip Schofield on This Morning
