Outen out flirt
Van’s man missing out on saucy chat
DENISE Van Outen is frozen out of Dancing on Ice after a nasty tumble but she’s not the only one feeling out in the cold.
The TV presenter loves to flirt at work – but the saucy banter stops when she gets home to hubby-to-be Eddie Boxshall.
And he is starting to get annoyed by the ex-big Breakfast host’s lack of cheeky remarks.
Eddie said: “It gives me the hump. Start chucking it a bit in my direction.”
Octopus
Last month Den, 46, who narrates reality show TOWIE, fell while rehearsing for Dancing on Ice with her proskater partner Matt Evers.
She dislocated a shoulder, suffered three fractures and was forced to quit the ITV contest.
She may need keyhole surgery and said: “Ice skating is not for me. I thought it’d be easier.”
On a recent podcast, she spoke of her outgoing nature and life with commodities trader Eddie, 46, who she met in 2014.
She said: “I don’t flirt with him. I flirt with everyone at work, I’m naturally flirty. It’s flanter – flirty banter. I don’t mean anything by it.” And she added that, as with millions of couples, the pandemic had strained their relationship.
Den said: “We’ve been locked down together 24/7 and a few things have come up. If we try and sit down and talk about things, we’ll end up bickering.”
Stage star Den and Eddie got tips from pyschosexual therapist Cate Mackenzie. Bizarrely, the love guru described Den as a “busy octopus” and Eddie as more of a “turtle” – somebody who needs downtime to connect.
Eddie said he wanted her to “find that little pocket of space” again so that they can reignite the flame. Den, speaking on web audio show Before We Say I Do, added: “I’m very aware of me putting us in situations where I’m not giving enough. I’m not as affectionate as I should be and I feel like I’ve lost my way a little bit within the relationship.
“It’s a good relationship but I think it could be better if we take the time to discuss what is bothering us about each other so we can move forward.”
Eddie and Den, whose daughter Betsy with ex Lee Mead is ten, moved in together two years ago.
Eddie has a son and daughter from a previous marriage.
I flirt with everyone at work. It’s flanter – flirty banter
WALKING into a busy bar in Benidorm, Gaynor Williams was instantly struck by the entertainer belting out Shakin’ Stevens hits.
She got a nostalgic tingle from his voice… and the way he rocked This Ole House.
As Gaynor found a seat and started humming along, the singer launched into Green Door.
She was finally starting to relax
after flying to Spain on a “Shirley Valentine” holiday after the end of a 16-year relationship.
But when singer Gaynor caught the eye of the man on stage, she was transported back to 1986 – and the aptlynamed Memories Bar in Chester.
Because the Shaky tribute act was her teenage sweetheart, Dean Ryan.
And, three decades after she first drove him crazy, the pair discovered they had a love worth waiting for.
“I recognised Dean instantly,” says Gaynor, 50. “He had the same great voice and lovely warm smile.
“Sure, he was a little greyer and had a few wrinkles but he still had the sparkling eyes that met mine across another crowded bar 33 years earlier.”
After the show finished, Gaynor went to the singer’s dressing room.
She recalls: “I said, ‘Hi, you are Dean, aren’t you?’ He smiled and said, ‘Wow… you’re Gaynor!’
“We started chatting and got on like a house on fire. It honestly felt like we’d never been apart.
“Dean said he’d been living and performing in Benidorm for years – and I told him I was newly single and on holiday.
“We arranged to meet again the next day and spent hours catching up on the last 30 odd years. It was obvious there was still a spark there.”
Gaynor returned five months later, in March last year, for another holiday.
But when lockdown began, Dean asked her to stay – and now they are building a new life together in the sun.
Gaynor says: “It’s insane… but I feel incredibly lucky. Dean and I pinch ourselves every day.”
Dean, 53, adds: “It really is amazing. I often thought about Gaynor but she was the last person I ever expected to see.
“The years just rolled away and we found we had an even stronger connection than in our teens. I couldn’t be happier.”
Gaynor was just 16 and Dean 19 when they met in the bar in their home town in 1986.
She was a dancer and singer and he was already playing guitar and performing with a band.
“We just clicked,” says Gaynor. “We spent ages listening to music, talking about what we wanted to do in life.
“Dean was always mad about Shakin’ Stevens – he looked just like him too – and a huge fan of Prince, while I loved Kylie and Wham!
“I was still young so we never had a sexual relationship. It was a proper old-fashioned teen romance.”
The couple dated for 18 months but fame beckoned and Dean moved to Pontins in Burnham-on-sea, Somerset, to become a Bluecoat.
“We wrote constantly and I went to visit him with his family but we started to drift apart,” says Gaynor.
“We never fell out, it was just bad timing. I joined a girl band and went to work in Germany. “We bumped into each other again in Chester a while later – but I had a new boyfriend and was a bit cocky about pursuing my solo career.
“But I remember Dean saying, ‘I always thought you and I would ride off into the sunset together’. That stuck in my head for ever.” With a sad smile, Dean admits: “She broke my heart by leaving.
“Because of the lack of technology then, we didn’t keep in touch – but I always thought about her.
“When 80s songs came on the radio I’d think about Gaynor and the good times.” Both later wed and each had a daughter. Gaynor’s, Yana, is now 21,
I feel so lucky. Dean and I pinch ourselves
every day
We started chatting… it felt like we’d never
been apart
while Dean’s is a year younger.
But both marriages broke down.
Gaynor began a new relationship and moved to Cornwall, while Dean went to Benidorm to follow his dream.
But after Yana flew the nest, Gaynor and her partner split up.
“The spark had just disappeared,” she says. “We remained friends but I was having a bit of a midlife crisis.
“I was doing a lot of soul-searching and in a Shirley Valentine moment decided to have a week’s holiday alone.
“I flew to Benidorm and settled in my hotel. Across the road was the Rock & Roll House, so I thought I’d pop in.
“I had no idea it was going to change my life for ever.”
Gaynor and Dean hit it off so well that she returned for a few days the following February and again last March.
“We were still just good friends,” says Gaynor. “But when lockdown happened and Dean asked me to stay, it changed.
“As it turned into months, we got closer and closer – it was obvious we had feelings for each other. When we finally became a couple it was just perfect.
“We had little date nights and sat on the balcony and just had the best time ever.” Gaynor found Dean had kept all the love letters they wrote in 1987 – and as they re-read them, they realised they were meant to be together.
“I spent all night crying,” she says. “It made me remember how serious we were about each other before our lives took different paths.
“I realised I didn’t ever want to go back to the UK.”
Dean says: “I always thought about Gaynor and tried to find her on Facebook about 10 years ago.
“But then she just walked into that bar and back into my life.
“My mum was thrilled when I told her. She said, ‘It’s about bloody time! You let that one get away’.”
When Spain’s lockdown ends next week, Dean will be back on stage performing his Shaky hits and Gaynor hopes to relaunch her own singing career. They may even form a double act.
Gaynor insists: “Whatever happens, we aren’t going to be parted again.
“On Valentine’s Day, Dean posted our photo on Facebook with the words of his favourite Shaky song. Because we really have found A Love Worth Waiting For.”