Entertainment
Denise Van Outen teases possibility of reuniting with Big Breakfast co-host Johnny Vaughan: ‘We’re thinking of some ideas’
Denise Van Outen has revealed that she and her former co-host of The Big Breakfast Johnny Vaughan have well and truly put their feud between them and are eyeing up a reunion.
The TV star, 46, found fame on the Channel 4 breakfast show in 1997 and fans had loved her onscreen chemistry with fellow presenter Johnny, but the two become embroiled in a 20-year long spat.
Denise had left the show in 2000 following a pay dispute after finding out that Johnny was earning more than her for doing the same job, following contract negotiations.
It put strain on the pair’s relationship and eventually Denise and Johnny fell out, but lockdown has brought them back together again and the pair have finally healed their rift.
Addressing her friendship with Johnny on the Sweat, Snot and Tears podcast, Denise said that the pair frequently talk and are setting their sights on a reunion.
‘We have been speaking a lot recently. We’ve been on and off as friends for years for various reasons,’ she explained, without going into detail about their fallout.
‘A lot of my friends that’s never happened with, but I think ours [her friendship with Johnny] was a combined career and work – when it’s a work thing it’s different.’
She continued: ‘My other friends I’ve never fallen out with, but it becomes a work thing and you get other influences involved, but you also go I have a lot of love for him as a person and as a friend and I think he’d say the same.’
Hinting that fans could see more from them together onscreen, Denise teased: ‘We’ve started talking again and, again, we’ve started thinking of some little ideas so you never know.’
Last month, Denise revealed that she and Johnny got back in touch over lockdown.
‘Johnny and I have had a bit of a rocky relationship over the years for various reasons and, funnily enough, we’ve messaged a lot in lockdown,’ she told The Mirror. ‘These situations make you reflect and realise some of the silly niggles and arguments you have are just not worth it.’
It comes as The Big Breakfast is set to celebrate its 30th anniversary, with Mo Gilligan hosting a one-off special of the show this autumn.
The Big Breakfast first aired in 1992, with Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin at the helm. Keith Chegwin and Zoe Ball were among the presenters that followed, before Denise and Johnny took over the show in 1997.
While Johnny presented the show until 2001, Denise took a break in 1999 and was replaced by Kelly Brook, before she rejoined the show in 2000 for another year.
Denise addressed her exit and the reasons why she chose to quit the breakfast show in an interview on Loose Women in 2017.
She explained: ‘I had a big fallout with Johnny Vaughan when we worked on The Big Breakfast and at that time we were like brother and sister. We were best friends, unbreakable.
‘The whole relationship fell apart when we started to renegotiate our contracts because I always felt we worked together as a team and that’s how it should be. We created it together. Not just us but the rest of the team working on the show. I always had that mentality that it was about all of us.’
Denise then found out that Johnny’s agent had been negotiating for him separately and that led to her confronting him.
‘I found out and obviously confronted him and I realised then at that point that our friendship had gone in two different directions and for me it was tarnished,’ she revealed.
‘That’s why I left the show because I knew at that point that it would never be the same.’
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