Amanda Holden TURNED DOWN by Blind Date contestant 30 years ago – but he married her lookalike

A BLIND Date contestant who turned down Amanda Holden 30 years ago went on to marry a woman who looks just like her.

Barnaby Hands had the chance to date the star back when they both appeared on Cilla Black's iconic show, but rejected her on prime time TV in favour of another potential love interest.

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Amanda was just 19 an an unknown drama student when she went on the ITV programme 'for a laugh', dressed in a slinky black halterneck top.

Now, Barnaby has shared his thoughts on turning down the Britain's Got Talent judge in front of 14 million viewers back in 1991.

Speaking to the , he said: "I still get teased about it to this day. When she became famous everyone kept telling me, 'You idiot!'

"My brother used to tease me so much. He said, 'I can’t believe you turned down Amanda Holden!' She used to do some modelling in men’s magazines and he would phone me up and say, 'What were you thinking?'"

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Barnaby, who works as an executive at film giant Paramount, later found love with wife Becca - who bears an uncanny resemblance to the BGT favourite.

The pair married 17 years ago, and Barnaby described his wife as being "quite petite" like Amanda.

Speaking about their marriage, he said: "Becca’s a natural beauty. I wouldn’t change a thing."

Amanda previously revealed she was actually engaged to a mystery man when she appeared on the ITV show in 1991.

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She told Reader's Digest: "I was actually down as a reserve, but someone was forced to pull out, which left me centre-stage, so to speak. I was actually engaged at the time, but it was all done for a laugh and the producers knew I wasn’t single."

Meanwhile, the star recently landed her own dating show with the BBC.

An insider told  bosses are already tipping her to be the next Cilla Black.

They said: "Everyone working on the show thinks she has the potential to be just like Cilla was years ago on Blind Date. There’s a lot of excitement about this."