Amanda Holden: "I don’t watch Britain’s Got Talent"
“I just watch the beginning to check the outfit looks OK”
You’re sitting down to watch TV with your husband Chris after a hard day’s filming...
I’m not going to lie, we’ve got a huge plasma TV. I love watching telly and I hate it when people pretend they don’t! But we also have a pile of books and games like Cards against Humanity. The cat sits on the reading chair and I have my feet on a lovely velvet pouf. There’s a posher lounge for meetings, with a baby grand piano.
Fancy! Aren’t there kids’ toys scattered everywhere?
No, the girls [Alexa, ten, and Hollie, four] have their own playroom. But I’m the type of mum who tidies while they’re still playing Barbies.
They’re girly girls, then?
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Yes. People say kids shouldn’t play with gender-specific toys, but they love their Barbies. Their games are so dramatic – it’s like watching Dynasty.
Do you control how the kids use the internet?
They both have iPads but they’re protected with Mobicip, which means they can’t access anything dodgy.
Recently Lexie came home from a play date and said they had looked up something to do with a man’s anatomy! It was very innocent, they were just curious, but I had a word with her friend’s mum. It was fantastic that Lexie told me about it. She’s sensible.
What do you and Chris watch when the girls go to bed?
I loved Brief Encounters, with my friend Angela Griffin. I’m so proud of her.
What are your TV guilty pleasures?
First Dates and Gogglesprogs.
Surprise us with something you watch.
Newsnight and Channel 4 News. We’re into music bios on bands like the Who and Fleetwood Mac. I recently filmed Who Do You Think You Are?, which was an incredible honour. It turns out I’ve got French ancestry, which explains my obsessions with shoes and wine.
Do you watch The X Factor?
I watch the audition shows, but never the live shows. I’m either out or with the kids when it’s on. And our show is better!
Doesn’t Simon Cowell mind?
He doesn’t believe me! But it’s true. I don’t watch Britain’s Got Talent back afterwards, either, although Simon always does. I just watch the beginning to check the outfit looks OK. The only time I watched it was when Pudsey won.
Simon used to pit women against each other – why didn’t you and Alesha Dixon play along?
Simon’s stopped doing it now. He knows it’s not cool. It’s not what women are naturally like and it’s not what women want to watch.
Your show, I’ve Got Something to Tell You, is all about confessions – have you got one for us?
I’m a pretty open book. I don’t have any tattoos anywhere strange, or, in fact, anywhere...
I've Got Something to Tell You starts on W tonight at 9pm
