‘Me and Eddie aren’t Instagram perfect’
Actress and presenter Denise Van Outen on her relationship, latest TV role and why her daughter is following in her footsteps
Denise Van Outen is swapping the streets of Essex for the roads of Australia, heading down under to join the cast of hit soap Neighbours. Denise has stepped into the shoes of the eccentric Prue Wallace, the mother of Harlow Robinson (Jemma Donovan). But as Prue recently found herself caught up in a spot of trouble, what is she really after from Harlow and the rest of the Robinsons?
Denise, 45, has also recently been on our screens alongside boyfriend of five years Eddie Boxshall on Channel 4’s Celebrity Gogglebox. The star is mum to nine-year-old daughter Betsy, who she shares with her ex-husband, Holby City
star Lee Mead.
Here, we talk to Denise about her latest role, why she now takes better care of her health and what it was really like working alongside Eddie…
Congratulations on joining the cast of Neighbours. Tell us about your character Prue Wallace…
Prue’s a bit out there and she’s one of those mums that anything she thinks is fashionable or the new“in”thing she will just join it. She’s got herself caught up in this cult which is about trying to be your better self, and inevitably at the end of it they started asking for money from her so she’s in financial trouble and needs to get a bit of help. She thinks,“I know, I’m going to call on the Australian relatives.” Prue’s quite manipulative, but I think beneath all of it she has got a good heart. Her daughter Harlow is a bit like,“Oh, here we go again, Mum.”
How did you land the role?
They were looking for a certain type of character and through the casting process they called me and they wanted the character to be a little bit larger than life, a little bit Ab Fab – a bit Joanna Lumley.
How did you feel being on the set of Ramsay Street?
I’m not someone who would do a tour of a set. Even when I lived in LA I never did a Hollywood homes tour. So when you’re on Ramsay Street and you see the tour buses coming past, you realise what it means to people. I did the classic tommy tourist selfies because you just have to, but it was fun.
How did you feel during filming?
It’s all a bit surreal because we’d be filming on Ramsay Street and then in the studios, then I’m in the green room with Jemma and we’re FaceTiming her dad (former Neighbours actor Jason Donovan), who’s starring in Joseph [And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat] in London’s West End. I’m like, “This is all very surreal.” The only downside is that I was there when it was their winter so it was cold.
You recently starred on Celebrity Gogglebox. How was that?
I loved it! With Eddie we laugh a lot together and everyone had been saying to us,“You two would be good on Celebrity Gogglebox,” because we don’t shut up. We enjoyed it.The crew came to the house and it was just a really fun show and all the other celebrity pairings were really good.
How did Eddie find being in front of the camera?
He was fine because you don’t really feel like they’re there because they just put a camera up then go. So it’s not like you’ve got a crew sitting there filming.You watch all your shows and they just record your commentary. He’s found it funny because he has been stopped in supermarkets by old ladies going,“Are you the Gogglebox man?”
Do you think your daughter Betsy will follow in her parents’ footsteps and get into performing arts?
Betsy’s done some Matalan adverts with me but we’d never force it upon her. She’s never really shown a flair for wanting to do the dancing but the acting side of things… She might be starting a little acting group on the weekends soon. She’s nine now so it’s different but when she was little I wouldn’t have done it.
You often share videos and pictures of your workouts on social media. Is a fit and healthy lifestyle important to you?
Yeah, it is. For me, it’s partly as well to try and keep myself feeling good. When I was in Australia and I was filming all day in the studio, I kind of needed to be able to get in the gym and release some endorphins and do a bit of exercise. It’s more important to me now than when I was younger because I didn’t really feel like I needed it.You get to a certain age where you do feel like you want to look after yourself more.
Do you think there’s more pressure as you get older to look a certain way?
I don’t think it’s that, I just think it is how I like to feel. I don’t think that there’s pressure from other people, because I honestly don’t take any notice of other women if they have put on a bit of weight. It’s not vanity, it’s more my health. I want to be healthy and I want to be able to go into my menopause with strong bones, it’s all those things and you’ve got to be prepared. We now know more about it all and I’m trying to prepare myself for a life change. It’s not a bad thing but it’s just acceptance.