My life through a lens

Celebrities share the stories behind their favourite photos. This week: star of stage and screen Denise Van Outen, 46

1986

Through my local dance school I was encouraged to attend open auditions in London, where I was spotted for Sylvia Young Theatre School. I started there aged 12, and soon afterwards I was put forward for the part of Eponine in Cameron Mackintosh’s new musical, Les Misérables. This is a picture of me with Susan Jane Tanner, who played Madame Thénardier. It was my first professional job and the show quickly became a hit. I was too young to realise how big it was, but I knew I was part of something magical. Even now, hearing those iconic songs makes the hairs on my arms stand on end.

2010

I’m very adventurous and I’d rather climb a mountain than sit on a beach. This was taken at Machu Picchu in Peru on a charity trek I did with Fearne Cotton for Breast Cancer Care; we took a group of women who were either in remission or were still undergoing treatment, and their strength and bravery was astounding. Fearne and I also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief in 2009, and while sharing tents we’ve seen each other at our worst, with no make-up, and cleaning our teeth in lakes!

2001

I hosted Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast with Johnny Vaughan from 1997 to 1998, and again between 2000 and 2001. This picture of the two of us was taken on the day I left the second time around, and it was Johnny’s last day too. We were great mates and laughed constantly. We still speak now, although we fell out for a bit. Do I regret leaving? Maybe a little. I started getting offered other work and I also had a desire to get back to acting, but I sobbed when I left and still have special memories of that time.

2013

This was at a dinner in Dubai for Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale. I was there to do some presenting and an interview with him backstage, and this picture was taken during the royal line-up. We were staying in the same hotel, along with the lovely Joss Stone [pictured with Denise and Harry], who was performing at the dinner, and later that night we all ended up in a hotel suite together. Joss was singing and Harry was joining in, and it became a bit of a jamming session.

1977

I’m three here [pictured second from right] and I look like a Lego character with that haircut! I had a really happy childhood growing up in Corringham, Essex, and was very close to my parents and my older siblings Terry and Jackie. We weren’t wealthy, but my parents were devoted to us and were always shuttling us to clubs. My mum’s parents lived on the same street, and it was a close-knit community.

1981

This is me, with bunches, in the middle of my class photo at St Joseph’s Primary School in Stanford le Hope. I wasn’t academic. I had difficulty with maths in particular and, even though I’ve never been diagnosed, I probably have ADHD, which made it hard to focus. But my intelligence came in a different way – I was very creative and a natural performer. I didn’t sit my GCSES, because an acting role came up, and I just carried on working. I’m 46 now, but I think my dad would still like me to sit my exams.

2001

Playing Roxie hart in Chicago was a dream come true, but it came at a hard time for me. I’d just split up with my boyfriend Jay Kay, from Jamiroquai, and I was heartbroken. This probably added to my performance. It was great to be part of a sold-out show, and going to New York for the Broadway version in 2002 was the icing on the cake. I lived in an apartment overlooking Central Park and would walk to the Shubert Theatre through Times Square, where there was a huge billboard of me. It was surreal. I’d love to do Chicago again – even if I went back as Mama Morton!

2020

I had to sign an NDA to be on The Masked Singer, so I didn’t even tell my fiancé Eddie and daughter Betsy. Eddie had messages from friends saying, ‘Is it Denise?’ and he said, ‘No, she would’ve told me’. When Betsy found out, she was very excited because all the kids at school loved it. In her eyes, being The Fox [pictured with host Joel Dommett] is the coolest thing I’ve ever done.