Series 15 of Britain’s Got Talent is well underway and the judges of the ITV show are reunited once more marking the 10th year the panel has remained the same, but fans are asking who is Amanda Holden and why is she famous?
The judge has been on the panel since series one alongside music mogul Simon Cowell. Amanda has a love of musical theatre and can’t resist a dog act when it comes to auditions, so we have all you need to know about Amanda as we look at what’s made her famous…
Who is Amanda Holden?
Amanda Louise Holden is an actress, TV judge and radio presenter – she is currently a judge on Britain’s Got Talent where she has been ever since the show started back in 2007 and you can tune into Heart Breakfast show weekday mornings as she hosts the programme with Jamie Theakston.
Born on 16th February 1971, Amanda celebrated her 51st birthday in 2022. In December 2008 she married husband Chris Hughes and the couple have two daughters Lexi, 16, and Hollie, 10.
With an estimated net worth of 4.7 million, Amanda has branched out to her own home decor collection Bundleberry range which is available to buy on QVC.
What is Amanda Holden famous for?
Amanda Holden is famous for her television work – her first TV appearance was as a contestant on the game show Blind Date in 1991. Between 1998 and 2001 Amanda appeared in The Grimleys, Kiss Me Kate (1999-2001), Cutting It (2002-2004). And from 2006 to 2008 she played Sarah Tervanian in three series of ITV’s Wild at Heart before moving on to Big Top (2009).
Her stage credits include playing the title role in the musical stage show Thoroughly Modern Millie in 2004, for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award.
Speaking about that stage show role which due to schedules forced her to only appear in one episode of the last series of Marple, she confessed, “It was knackering, and the biggest challenge I’ve faced, professionally, in my career. I could have fallen on my backside – but I didn’t once. It was an awful decision to have to make, to be honest. It was sad it was all at the same time. But I was able to turn up in one episode of Cutting It, so I got the best of both worlds.”
And Amanda has presented various TV shows for ITV including The Sun Military Awards (2009–2014), Superstar (2012), This Morning (2014–2018), Text Santa (2015), and Give a Pet a Home (2015).
Amanda became a Sunday Times Bestseller in 2013 when she released her autobiography No Holding Back, and in 2020 she released her debut studio album Songs from My Heart.
These days Amanda is famous for being a judge on Britain’s Got Talent and has been since it started back in 2007 and currently co-hosts Heart Breakfast radio show alongside Jamie Theakston.
The Grimleys actors (clockwise from top left) Amanda Holden, James Bradshaw, Corrieann Fletcher, Ryan Cartwright, Noddy Holder and Brian Conley, circa 1999. (Photo by John Rogers/TV Times/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Amanda Holden in Miss Marple
Amanda Holden played Lucy Eyelesbarrow in Agatha Christie’s Marple TV Series between 2004–2013 in 4.50 From Paddington. Speaking about the role at the time she said, “I don’t often get the chance to do a lot of period drama – I think everyone just sees me as a modern girl. So, the chance to wear gorgeous frocks and wonderful hairstyles really appealed.”
The part reunited her with Cutting It co-star Ben Daniels, as alcoholic Alfred Crackenthorpe. “I couldn’t believe it when I found out he was in it. We play such different characters from Cutting It and it’s been a lot of fun. He’s a horrible, bumbling drunk and a bit of a lech” she added.
Amanda Holden before she was famous
Before Amanda Holden was famous she spend much of her childhood in Bishop’s Waltham, after being born in Portsmouth, Hampshire. At the age of nine she joined Bishop’s Waltham Little Theatre Company and was later educated at Swanmore College. At 16 she moved to Bournemouth before taking the plunge and heading to South London to attend Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.
Britain’s Got Talent is on Saturdays at 8pm on ITV and ITV hub.