'A contestant did something dangerous with fruit near Simon Cowell. It was difficult to watch...' AMANDA HOLDEN reveals the tantalising secrets from behind the scenes of the new Britain's Got Talent

She’s done the tough jobs, from cleaning loos to picking fruit and flogging perfume in Boots, but now Amanda Holden is a seemingly unstoppable celebrity phenomenon. Singer, dancer, actor, presenter, BGT judge and – most recently – home makeover expert with her best pal Alan Carr, she’s made a success of every discipline she has turned her hand to.

And if proof were needed, Harry Styles no less said when he rehearses his hit song Golden he changes the words to ‘Amanda Holden’. Naturally Amanda says she’s ‘over the moon’ at this, yet she still insists she’s a ‘waitress that got lucky’.

‘If it all went t*** up tomorrow I’d be gutted, but I’d work as a cashier in Tesco again,’ she says. ‘I’d do anything it took to make sure I brought cash in. It’s about self-preservation, dignity and keeping going.’

It all stems from her humble beginnings in Hampshire, where her father walked out when she was four. She worked part-time jobs from the age of 13 and took her unwavering work ethic from a long line of feisty and admirable women, including her grandmother Ethel, who worked in the accounts department at ice cream company Wall’s.

‘I’ve waitressed, cleaned, made beds, picked fruit – anything I could to earn a living... within reason,’ she laughs. ‘Because there’s always the fear that you won’t have any money to feed yourself. When children are involved, it’s about feeding them.’

Today she’s been up since 5am, presented her weekly Heart Breakfast radio show with Jamie Theakston, hosted the launch of the new Motherland spin-off series Amandaland, dashed back to her Surrey home to celebrate her daughter Hollie’s 13th birthday, and returned to central London to appear on The One Show before attending a film screening in Soho. There’s bound to have been a quick session on her Peloton exercise bike squeezed in too, but certainly no sneaky siesta.

A third series of Amanda & Alan’s Spanish Job, the BBC’s hugely popular renovation show, has started and she’ll soon host Netflix’s new spring dating show Cheaters: Unfinished Business. 

She’s also set to present a new Saturday night BBC game show, due later this year, called The Inner Circle, in which contestants compete to build up a cash pot but must then team up with rivals to take it home. The Traitors-style twist is that those rivals may stab them in the back.

But she’s here today ahead of the 18th series of Britain’s Got Talent, where she’ll take her ever-present place on the judging panel alongside Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli. 

It was BGT that proved to be a turning point for Amanda in 2007 when she was an 11th-hour replacement for Girls Aloud’s Cheryl Cole. With her trademark tenacity and visible empathy with contestants, she made the role her own and became a welcome contrast to TV’s Mr Nasty.

‘BGT is the gift that keeps on giving,’ she says. ‘We have some extraordinary talent from Japan and Korea as well as eccentric, fabulous, quintessentially British contestants.

‘I’ve also seen more of the old Simon as Mr Nasty which I enjoy. I don’t want him to become too soft. But whoever gets a no now, he gives them long monologues with wisdom and life hacks, which is sweet.’

There’s the usual chaos, though. And a lot of birds – a pole-dancing seagull, a man who plays rubber chickens and someone who dedicates a song to Bruno while sitting on a giant rooster.

There’s also the obligatory scary act. ‘Somebody did something dangerous with fruit near Simon,’ she reveals. ‘I know there’s health and safety on our show, but it was precarious; the stage was slippery. Simon could have got his head smashed in.

‘I found it difficult to watch. I imagine it will be in the first show. It’s so hair-raising, even if the producers were howling with laughter.’

BGT welcomes a guest judge this year too, musician and boxer KSI. ‘He smashed it,’ says Amanda. ‘I’ve learnt so much from him. I’m always evolving and seeing what I can achieve.’

The evidence is before us today. She thought she looked ‘terrible’ in her first season on BGT at the age of 35, with over-plucked eyebrows and mousey hair, but thanks to her own passion, super stylists and couture dresses, many fabulously risqué, that has changed.

‘In the second series I had to up my game,’ she recalls. ‘I’m an actress, so I was used to walking onto a set and getting my make-up done by someone. But suddenly loads of people were watching what I was wearing. I’ve always loved fashion, but now it’s a big thing.’

And at the age of 53, so is she. ‘It’s odd, isn’t it? This has been the best decade for me. My 40s were pretty good as well but at 50 I feel at my most confident and I don’t care what people think or say about me.

‘I don’t like people who become victims of their own circumstance either. My default is always to fight back, rather than think, “Oh no, this is awful, why me?” But when good stuff happens I’m like, “Oh my God. Why do I deserve this?” Then I think, “Why not?” So it works both ways. Last year was brilliant for me and some of my friends, but unbelievably trying for many others in their relationships and health.’

Her Heart Breakfast radio show co-host Jamie has just made an emotional return after a four-month break to undergo three surgeries for laryngeal cancer and four months of vocal therapy, treatments that sometimes leave patients unable to speak again.

Jamie was also welcomed back by Davina McCall, who returned to radio after surgery for a benign brain tumour last year. It was Davina who inadvertently drew attention to Jamie’s throat after she put her arms around him for a cuddle and it proved unexpectedly painful for him.

‘It was a thrill to get Jamie back,’ says Amanda. ‘He had a sore throat for weeks but it was still a shock when I got a text from his lovely wife Sophie saying it’s cancer. It was the worst possible outcome. But actually, after further examination, it was the best prognosis – he was stage one.

‘I spoke to him nearly every week. I didn’t know what to do because he has a wonderful family around him, so I sent him a scarf. I have a lovely relationship with Sophie who is super strong and we take the mickey out of Jamie all the time.'

She adds: ‘They kept his return as a surprise as they had to be sure he could talk for three and a half hours. He looks so much better. He’s on a vegetarian diet too. He’s got a different perspective on life as people who have survived cancer often do.’

Amanda was also side-swiped by Davina’s diagnosis. ‘It knocked me for six. I can definitely call her a friend, but we’ve never really socialised. But then when I saw the news on her Instagram I was shocked. And with Jamie on top of that you just think, “This is all going to s***.”

‘I checked in on Davina. She’s possibly the nicest person in our industry. She’s the best hugger and has great energy. You know how we all like good gossip or a good slag-off of somebody – Davina isn’t interested in all that, she’s perfect in every way.’

Did it make Amanda worry about her own health? ‘I’m really good at facing up to things. I have a mammogram and my bloods checked every year. I think that you become very much aware of your own mortality when you become a parent,’ she says.

After her divorce from comedian Les Dennis in 2003, Amanda started dating her soulmate, music producer Chris Hughes, the son of Les’s agent Mike Hughes, after they met at a Los Angeles fashion show. They tied the knot in 2008 with their one-year-old daughter Lexi, now 19, in attendance.

In 2011 they lost a son, Theo, who was stillborn at seven months. When Hollie arrived a year later, Amanda suffered placenta accreta (when the placenta becomes too attached to the uterine wall, causing blood loss on separation) during the birth and was lucky to survive. She was in a coma and actually flatlined after her heart stopped beating for 40 seconds.

It is disasters like these that are the test of a marriage but Amanda says laughter got them through. ‘Chris and I have always been able to find humour in the darkness. He doesn’t dwell on drama. Sometimes people don’t get his humour and I’ll say to him, “Leave the room, you’re not reading it very well,”’ she laughs.

Far from being woke and worthy, Amanda revels in old-school sauciness. She enjoys cooking at home naked and Chris still loves to chase her round the house ‘like Benny Hill'. She adds: 'There’s no wokery in our house. We don’t hold anything back, and we have strong opinions.’

Aware that ‘we’re always one sentence away from ending our careers’, does she worry about being cancelled, especially with her great friend Alan Carr who loves a below-the-belt joke? ‘No – we do find a filter. Sometimes our kids pull me and Chris up and say, “You can’t say that sort of thing now.” They educate me all the time, but behind closed doors you’re free to think what you want.’

She and Chris have obviously retained their romantic spark after 22 years. ‘We try to have a date night every Thursday when we go to the theatre or have dinner, or we lock the door and watch Netflix and the kids just have to do their own thing.

‘He’s a busy person as well so I get butterflies thinking about seeing him. We also wind each other up something chronic, but that’s why we’ve been together since 2003.’

And who wears the trousers? ‘Me!’ she says. ‘I look to him for advice about my career as he’s second to none. But when it comes to house decor, life choices and what the girls get up to, I’m better at it.’

Amanda may be close friends with Simon and Alan, but she’s a woman’s woman too with a tight-knit group including Sarah Parish, Tamzin Outhwaite and Angela Griffin.

Their weekends away together are a riot. ‘We always turn up with embarrassing amounts of alcohol and there’s lots of nattering because we’ve all got daughters the same age. You can question your own parenting skills so when you get together with women who feel the same way, there’s so much to share and learn.’

Her new Netflix series Cheaters: Unfinished Business reunites exes whose relationships ended over infidelity. With the help of a relationship expert, Amanda guides eight former couples as they confront each other at a retreat where they work out if they can move past the betrayal or must end their relationship forever.

‘It was one of the best experiences of my career,’ she says. ‘We were with an extraordinary bunch with really good stories to tell. It’s gossipy, salacious and heartbreaking. I’m the non-judgmental shoulder. It’s all about human nature, forgiveness, so it’s really relatable.’

Amanda’s faced a degree of judgment herself, but isn’t one to dwell and is all about moving forward.

‘I strive to do my best in everything I do and be the most professional and nicest I can be. I just love working,’ she says. ‘Great things come from hard work.’

• Britain’s Got Talent returns Saturday February 22, 7pm, ITV1 and ITVX.