Amanda Holden reveals why she forgave Piers Morgan for exposing her affair with TV star behind Les Dennis’ back

AMANDA Holden has revealed why she chose to forgive Piers Morgan for exposing her affair with a huge TV star.

The star, now 52, was just 23 when she tied the knot to comedian Les Dennis – who was 17 years her senior.

She went on to have an affair with fellow actor Neil Morrissey, which saw their marriage crumble after five years.

Piers exposed the affair in 2000 while he worked as the editor of the Mirror.

But despite this, Piers and Amanda have gone on to become good friends and Amanda revealed why she’s forgiven him.

In a recent interview, Amanda said: “Piers is a poacher turned gamekeeper, isn’t he? He was the youngest ever Mirror editor and had something to prove, so he was like a dog with a bone with me.”

She continued to tell : “But now… If I had a problem I’d call Piers in the middle of the night and I know he’d help me. I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea and 100 per cent I don’t agree with him on a lot of things.

“But people don’t see what a sap he is with his young daughters — he’s a great dad.”

Quizzed about if she was looking for a father figure when she married Les, Amanda added: “I don’t know because I’ve never done therapy, but there is a sort of safety in a relationship like that.

“I was very young and I had a lot to learn about life.”

Neil also addressed the affair in the past, saying: “I don’t think we could have avoided starting it but we could have dealt with it differently.

“Amanda was having problems with her relationship anyway, as far as I was concerned. The ring was on the finger but the marriage was not really there.

“That was my understanding at the time. We had a lovely time when we had that brief fling.”

Amanda is now married to Chris Hughes and the couple share two children, Alexa and Hollie.