Denise Van Outen and Johnny Vaughan end 20-year rift

2 February 2021

Denise Van Outen and Johnny Vaughan have ended their 20-year rift after the coronavirus pandemic made them realise it was "not worth it".

Denise Van Outen

The presenting pair previously co-hosted 'The Big Breakfast' in the 1990s, but they fell out over contract renegotiations, and while the former 'Dancing on Ice' star admitted she has had a "rocky relationship" with Johnny, they have been back in touch amid the pandemic.

She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It would be nice to do something.

"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.

“These situations make you reflect and realise some of the silly niggles and arguments you have are just not worth it."

Denise has previously claimed Johnny's agent tried to get him "more money" than her when they were co-hosting 'The Big Breakfast'.

She said: "When we were negotiating contracts I thought we were doing it as a team but his agent had other ideas and she got him more money.

"We never got back on track."

Denise has also previously claimed she confronted Johnny when she found out about the separate negotiations.

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. But Johnny and I know there are other influences involved, and agents and everything - but he was negotiating separately from me.

"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.

"That’s why I left the show because I knew at that point that it would never be the same."