HER talent, wit and bold wardrobe have kept Amanda Holden a main-stay on Britain’s Got Talent for 17 years.
But the radio presenter has found another compelling reason for boss Simon Cowell not to boot her off the judging panel — it would be dead awkward down their local boozer.
Amanda, 53, and Simon, 64, are practically neighbours after he swapped his £45million London mansion for a country house in the Cotswolds last year.
Amanda, who has lived in the region in the South West for years, told The Sun: “I see Simon most weekends in the Cotswolds, so it would be very uncomfortable for him.
“My local pub is now their local pub, so often I’ll get a table and the manager will go, ‘Oh, you know your friend Simon is coming in?’, and I’ll go, ‘Oh for God’s sake! OK, let’s just turn it into a table for ten then’.”
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Amanda has been a judge on BGT since its launch in 2007, but says she still treats each series like it could be her last.
She recalled: “That call to say ‘You’ve got a job’, it’s still the most amazing day for me, even 30 years into my career.
“I never know I’m coming back for BGT. We do not have long contracts, we’re contracted yearly and I’ve never expected it.
“Simon is not frightened of a change. But there are other ways I earn my money, so I try to go, ‘If I get it again, then great’.
‘Turn into enemies’
“I’d be sad but I would wish the next person very well.”
She has out-lasted big-name panellists including Piers Morgan, Baywatch actor David Hasselhoff and comic David Walliams.
Amanda, married to music producer Chris Hughes, said: “Simon always says I’m like a competition winner, but I think I just still have an actor’s mentality that you never know when your next job is, so you make the most of the moment.”
Talk of a shake-up is apt, as last weekend Simon came under fire for his treatment of talent show judges, which threatened to overshadow the new series launch.
After Sharon Osbourne revealed on Celebrity Big Brother last month that she had not spoken to Simon since she was axed from The X Factor in 2018, Amanda jumped to her pal’s defence.
It infuriated Sharon, who slammed the former actress in an open letter.
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Asked about it this week, Amanda was keen to share how proud she is of the strong friendships among the current BGT panel.
The mum-of-two is returning alongside former Strictly judge Bruno Tonioli, 68, who is back for his second year, and show regulars Simon and Alesha Dixon, 45.
Amanda, who has daughters Lexi, 18, and Hollie, 11, said: “When Alesha joined the panel I got hold of her number and I rang and said, ‘Let’s go for a coffee because the first thing everyone’s gonna do is try and turn us into enemies’.
“We have a very strong friendship group. When we’re filming Britain’s Got Talent, Alesha goes off to FaceTime her children because she’s a better mother than me, and Bruno and I stay upstairs and have a lovely glass of wine, and good food. We all hang out.”
Which brings us back to the Cotswolds, where hordes of celebrities have made their home.
Amanda has lived there for years and was recently joined by Simon, his fiancée Lauren Silverman, 46, and their ten-year-old son, Eric.
The Beckhams also have a pad nearby, as does Hollywood actor Jamie Dornan and Sun columnist Jeremy Clarkson, who chose the region for his Diddly Squat Farm.
Amanda can often be found in the country offshoot of London members’ club Soho House.
Simon is not frightened of a change
Amanda Holden
She said: “We have had a place there for years. I was saying to Simon, you need to come to the Cotswolds, this is the place that you can switch off and take your eyelashes off and breathe.
“And obviously we have Soho Farmhouse.
“Although, since he’s moved there, my eyelashes do not come off!”
It is no surprise to learn Amanda’s dedication to looking glam extends to her home life as she is one of TV’s most-polished presenters.
Her BGT wardrobe has been a frequent hot topic with some of her risqué outfits prompting viewers to complain to broadcasting regulator Ofcom.
After one plunging dress received 663 complaints in 2017, she said: “It’s all quite laughable. But, oh no, I will not be covered up.”
On how her style has evolved over the series, she said: “You know when I got the job, I was making soup.
“My oldest daughter had just had her first birthday, and I got the call from my agency and they said, ‘Simon Cowell wants to know . . . ’ and I immediately said, ‘Yes’, because at the time Pop Idol was huge.
“And two days later I went up to Birmingham to film.
“I had on a pair of jeans and a top — I’m wearing it when [opera singer] Paul Potts appears on stage — and I had it on back to front because I didn’t have a stylist. I don’t think I would ever wear jeans on Britain’s Got Talent now.”
With a penchant for flesh-flashing looks, what does Amanda think of the recent sexism row between actress Hannah Waddingham and a photographer who asked her to show some leg on the red carpet.
Amanda said: “Well, I’m a huge fan of Hannah.
“I saw her back in the day when she was in the West End in The Producers and she’s such an amazing performer.
“So I am thrilled to see her career and a light suddenly shone on somebody that’s really, really learnt her craft. And I love her feistiness.
“She’s got great legs — she probably should flash them a bit — but I understand where she is coming from. Obviously you don’t have to ask me [to flash my legs] twice, though!”
Amanda first appeared on TV in an episode of Blind Date in 1991 and went on to star in TV dramas and on stage.
Roles included crime drama Jonathan Creek, comedy Smack The Pony and the BBC’s Cutting It.
But it was Britain’s Got Talent that catapulted Amanda on to the world stage.
She also co-hosts the Heart Breakfast radio show with Jamie Theakston on weekday mornings.
On calls for primetime telly to have more women hosting their own shows, Amanda said: “I do agree that there needs to be more women on a Saturday night. I’m always gonna go for that.
“Britain’s Got Talent is very good for that, Strictly Come Dancing is very good for that. But there’s always room for more.
“This is such a cheesy answer, but I do feel very fortunate to be working and that’s the bottom line.
“And so I make the most of every single minute of my day.
When this thing happened, I thought ‘I’m gonna be fired’. We just all looked at the producers, like, ‘Stop this now’. But I can’t say any more
Amanda Holden
“I left drama school in 1992 and I still have that work ethic, but I never worry because I would honestly just go get a job, any job. I’ve had a job since I was 13.”
The arrival of Bruno to the panel last year — as replacement for under-fire Walliams, 52 — has sparked a new fun, silly era for the show.
Alongside a pair of singers and a breathtaking martial arts act, tonight’s launch episode features a bonkers comedian, a professional burper and a musician who plays a shower head.
It’s the kind of nonsense Simon would have once abhorred.
Amanda said: “I blame Eric for that!
“Dinosaurs and burping and farting and all of those things are what make our children laugh, but Simon would have once rolled his eyes at that.
“He was very hard to please back in the day, and he certainly didn’t find base things funny. Toilet humour was off the cards.”
Simon, Amanda and Alesha let their children attend the auditions and ask for their feedback on each act.
But Amanda teases they got a little too close to the action.
She said: “This is not clickbait, but my youngest, Hollie, and Eric feature in this series of BGT, and I nearly died.
“When this thing happened, I thought ‘I’m gonna be fired’. We just all looked at the producers, like, ‘Stop this now’. But I can’t say any more.”
With Ant and Dec at the helm, BGT remains a staple of family TV.
But Amanda confesses, even now, she worries they may one day run out of road.
She added: “You’re sat there and you do think, ‘Is this the year where it’s going to go t*ts up?’.
“So every year it surprises me. Me, Bruno and Alesha have not seen this episode. We haven’t seen anything.
“So I’ll sit there and watch and I feel like I’m on Gogglebox.
“I’ll be going, ‘Oh my God. Aren’t they doing an extraordinary job’.”
- Britain’s Got Talent returns tonight at 7.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
