Amanda Holden: ‘My daughter’s not a nepo baby – her success is nothing to do with me’
She’d love to return to acting, but for now she’s adding fizz to a new Saturday-night quiz show.
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.
What’s the view from your sofa?
I have a very bright, paprika orange sofa – my husband [music producer Chris Hughes] nearly had a heart attack when I got it – and the view from it is what you’d call a media wall. I found a good carpenter, who made the shelves and painted it green. Now I’ve got lots of different things on shelves – and, in the middle of them, a big telly.
Who controls the remote?
The kids. They’re on Netflix and YouTube and all the streamers and my algorithm is completely ruined with things like Wednesday and I Know What You Did Last Summer – or maybe it’s The Summer I Turned Pretty – which have nothing to do with my taste at all.
Was there a summer you turned pretty?
There was not! I had braces and a cowlick for years.
Is watching television a communal activity in your house?
There are certain shows that we all watch together – Strictly, Gogglebox and Modern Family. No one is allowed to watch those separately. If my mum’s here, we’ll catch Pointless. And I have to say Changing Ends, obviously, because of Alan [Carr]. The kids watch Amanda and Alan… but I don’t tend to watch things I’m in.
Your daughter, Lexi, was scouted by the model agency Storm. The phrase “nepo baby” gets bandied about a lot these days…
Yes, she’s related to me, but that’s nothing to do with me. The word “nepo” can be thrown around for ever but it’s unfair it’s been used in showbiz. When I was young, I got a job in a fruit ’n’ veg shop because my mum knew the fruit ’n’ veg guy. If you know someone that can help your child get in somewhere, you’ll do whatever. But they have to have talent and backbone, and work to succeed. I’m proud of my daughter, doing stuff for Storm as well as two normal jobs while at uni. She’s not going to come out with a debt. That’s amazing.
Did you always want to work in showbusiness?
My mum says I always wanted to act. I would do shows in the garden and make posters for them and stick them to the telegraph poles around our housing estate. My mum and dad had no money, so I didn’t go to extra classes. Then, by a miracle, when I was nine, a lady moved to Bishop’s Waltham [Hampshire], which is where I’m from, and started up an amateur dramatics group.
You don’t do much acting now…
And I miss it. I’m asked to do things all the time, including West End shows, but because of my other commitments – not least the radio show – I just can’t do eight shows a week. I absolutely am going to go back to it. I was nominated for an Olivier for my first big show, Thoroughly Modern Millie – and while I didn’t win, the nomination was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Tell us about your new show, The Inner Circle.
It’s simple, really – general knowledge plus “who do you trust?” It’s a bit Weakest Link, a bit Traitors, a bit Golden Balls, a bit Runaround and a bit of fizz – that’s me!
Are you competitive?
Hugely! I like winning. I’m not one of those people who thinks that, at school, everyone gets a prize. There should be first, second, third. Because life is like that. We are getting softer and softer, and I’m not a fan of that.
You also present Heart’s breakfast show, you’re a judge on Britain’s Got Talent, you swan around the Med in Amanda and Alan… and you present Cheat, a dating show on Netflix. What’s the key to your success?
Suddenly, in my 50s, I’ve been discovered again, which is bizarre – and wonderful. I’ll tell you what I think it is: I have always been authentic, I’ve never been unkind, I have never had an ego, and I have never thought I was any better than anyone else. And I’ve always shown up on time. That’s key, with any job.
