Amanda Holden: ‘I didn’t go on Blind Date looking for love’

Amanda Holden’s career has finally come full circle.

It’s been 19 years since the UK was introduced to Amanda, long before she sat beside Simon Cowell on Britain’s Got Talent and became a household name as catty hairdresser Mia in Cutting It.

Amanda’s first graced screens in front of almost 20 million viewers in 1991 as a contestant on Cilla Black’s Blind Date when it was at its peak.

It was a total accident. When her best friend split up with his girlfriend, he turned to Cilla and brought Amanda along to his audition.

Even though she was taken, producers saw her potential there and then.

‘I was a young kid and loved up at the time and they said to me, “Oh, you know, you’re gobby – come and just audition.

‘I was like, “no, no, I’ve got a boyfriend.” Anyway, I ended up being on the show because somebody’s granny died, and they were well aware I was in a relationship.

 ‘Luckily, I didn’t get picked, but for that year only, they picked all the gobs**tes from the shows, and we did a Christmas special. So you can also find me mouthing the words to last Christmas by Wham in Finland.

 ‘But for me, it was a television appearance. Love was not on my mind.’

34 years on, she’s fulfilled her lifetime ambition of hosting her own dating show on Netflix, Cheat: Unfinished Business.

She says she manifested this moment, surprisingly inspired after watching Michelle Keegan on Netflix mystery thriller Fool Me Once.

‘I thought, “Oh my God, if Michelle Keegan could do this, I can do this.”

‘I love Michelle Keegan but seeing this success is happening for British people was wonderful because you think this is an American thing, and it’s now happening for some British people, the lucky few of us.’

Cheat is a very 2025 take on the dating game. Six couples who have been rocked by infidelity turn to Amanda and therapist to the stars Paul C. Brunson to help repair their trust and give their relationships a second chance.

You might wonder why we need another dating show but Cheat is surprisingly refreshing. There’s a sincerity that’s lacking in Love Island or Married At First Sight, with every couple genuinely looking to fix their relationship rather than using each other for 15 minutes of fame.

‘Everybody knows somebody or may have cheated themselves.

‘It’s about what you consider cheating to be, and if you can find a path or a way through it to find each other again but the beauty of the whole thing is the intelligence, how it’s all been done, the layers and layers and layers, and at the end, everybody takes something away for themselves.

 ‘You might not necessarily walk off into the sunset with the love of your life, but you definitely walked out into that sunset going, “Do you know what, I’m ready to start again, I’ve learned so much about myself – let’s go.” So it’s, it’s very positive.’

Cheaters are rarely given a second chance on reality television – at least by the public. But Amanda’s dating game shows cheating is more nuanced.

‘I’m less judgemental [about cheating] now,’ says Amanda.

‘Paul is brilliant because he is the therapist, he’s hugely experienced, he deals with this sort of thing every single day of his life. I am you, the viewer, I am watching this and I have formed opinions.

‘I read about all of these people, and then I meet them in the flesh and I honestly couldn’t wish more than the best for all of them, because they’re all just human, and we shouldn’t be so judgmental.

‘I mean, we can have opinions. I don’t believe in wishy-washy sitting on fences, but it’s very important to listen and to see how much you can learn about yourself.’

Amanda’s own love life has been well documented. She was previously married to comedian Les Dennis before meeting her current husband of over 20 years Chris Hughes, with whom she shares two daughters, Lexie and Holly.

‘I have always been in long-term relationships,’ she says, not so much with regret but wonder.

‘I would say, if I look back on myself, not in my career and not in my opinions, but certainly in my love life, I never really asked myself what I wanted.’

Still, she knows she wouldn’t have wanted to appear on a show like Cheat. ‘I wouldn’t have had the balls to do this!’

Surprising from someone who has built a career from taking big risks.

For the last 19 years, Amanda has been at the helm of Britain’s Got Talent alongside Simon Cowell. To this day, it’s still one of the landmark television series still going strong when so many other TV contests have faded into oblivion.

It was the ultimate sliding doors moment for Amanda. Just weeks before filming, Cheryl was due to sit in between Simon and then-judge Piers Morgan but dropped out at the last minute, getting cold feet.

‘I bet she’d kicking herself,’ Amanda cackles.

It might not sound like a risk today. Britain’s Got Talent is so clearly a winning formula, which has been adapted in 69 territories over the last two decades.

‘Simon was told that it was unlikely the show was going to get commissioned, and he begged them, “Let’s just do this first couple of days, and then can we see where we are?”

‘Obviously the executives and everybody then realised it was going to work. I didn’t know any of that at the time.’

In their defence, it sounds though Amanda wasn’t fulfilling them with much confidence.

‘I had no makeup artist or stylist, and I wore my top on back to front. I didn’t know what I was even wearing,’ she laughs. ‘And the rest is history’.

But Amanda suddenly has another hit on her hands, somewhat unexpectedly. If reality TV competitions dominated the 2010s, this decade is all about the celebrity travelogue.

There’s an inescapable rotation of celebs going abroad with their sons, daughters, dads (rarely mums) or famous pals for a free jolly.

No matter the star or their destinations, it’s almost guaranteed to be a winning formula. But few celebrity travelogues have hit the mark quite like Amana and Alan’s Big Job, which sees the unlikely pair renovate a house falling apart at the seams.

They launched with The Italian Job, which was an immediate hit. But once a second series was commissioned, they ran into a problem.

‘We called it The Italian Job because obviously that works, but the Spanish job doesn’t work. I said it should be called the Spanish acquisition…I know what the next one should be called, but I can’t say that yet…’

I tell her I’m already privy to that information – their next stop is Greece.

Gasping with relief as though she’s been bursting to speak about their next adventure, she continues: ‘I think should be called My Big Fat Greek renovation, but it’s always going to be the Greek job and like the Spanish job the joke just doesn’t work. But yes it is happening again.’

Should Cheat be the hit Netflix is expecting it to be (judging by budget), Amanda will be enjoying the pinnacle of her career so far with three blockbuster series across three channels, as well as her Heart breakfast show with Jamie Theakston.

But it’s not quite enough. There’s still two more goals to tick off the bucket list.

‘I want to be in a Bollywood movie and I want to be in a Christmas movie, because I am a Hallmark queen,’ she gleams.

‘I just want to be in it – I don’t have to carry it, I can cut a ribbon. I just need to be in it so I can film in the snow in August.

‘But watch this space on the Bollywood movie because that actually might happen…’

Cheat: Unfinished Business is available to stream on Netflix from April 30.

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