Van Outen: 'I wanted to be Cilla!'

Denise Van Outen has revealed how she wanted to be the next Cilla Black.

The 35-year-old TV presenter confessed to The Guardian that she was horrified when offers of TV roles dried up after her show Something For The Weekend was axed.

Denise said: "Everything I'd grown up wanting to be and do was now not possible - I didn't want to be edgy or late-night: I wanted to be Cilla!"

She added: "I was a bit embarrassed. Upset and hurt. And I had no work. I've always worked, since I was a kid. It's all I've ever known."

But Denise revived her TV career judging with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the BBC musical talent show Any Dream Will Do, and is now married to the winner Lee Mead.

She said: "I don't want to commit to anything too long term at the moment. We'd love to start a family. I'm 35. This side of my life has to take priority now - it's really, really important to me."

She is currently performing in her own musical memoir Blondes, which she has now taken to the Edinburgh festival, but confesses she is not sure how blonde she is anymore.

She revealed she started dying her hair at 14 when she bought her first bottle of Sun-In from Superdrug.

She added: "Nowadays, I have highlights. Which means if I left it... well I don't really know. Let's draw a veil."