One of the UK’s most familiar faces discusses heartbreak, escaping to New York and the next big project on her bucket list
Born in Essex in 1974, the multi-faceted presenter, actress, singer and dancer Denise Van Outen, attended the renowned Sylvia Young Theatre School in London and became a household name in the 1990s presenting The Big Breakfast on Channel 4. Since then, she has appeared in West End musicals such as Chicago, Rent Remixed, Legally Blonde, and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s one-woman show Tell Me on a Sunday.
On TV she has starred in Where the Heart Is, EastEnders and Neighbours, presented Channel 4 documentaries and Steph’s Packed Lunch, while on radio she hosted the Capital Radio Breakfast Show with Johnny Vaughan and her own show on Magic FM. She has also featured on The Masked Singer, Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing on Ice and Celebrity Gogglebox. Van Outen lives in Essex with her daughter, Betsy, 15.
When a late-night Channel 4 show I presented was panned by the critics, it gave me a chance to reinvent myself. It really affected my career because I was flying high before that, but because of that I decided to go back to the drawing board. It led to me auditioning for and landing the role of Roxy Hart in Chicago.
I think people thought I wouldn’t be able to do it because they assumed I was just the girl off the telly. But I received really good reviews and was asked to perform the role on Broadway. It not only completely changed people’s perception of me but also of myself. It made me realise that I had it in the locker to do other things – and to be fearless. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t. But it was a real shift for me.
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Going to New York to appear on Broadway was a healing process for me. I’d gone through a very public break-up from Jay Kay [songwriter and lead singer in Jamiroquai]. It’s always great when you’re in love, but when things go wrong, you want to hide under a rock. The time spent in New York helped fix my broken heart. When I’ve felt unhappy or sad about a situation, I always think: “Right, you can only feel sorry for yourself for a certain amount of time and then you have to find the fire in your belly and do something about it”. I just throw myself into something and that’s paid off in many ways.
I started dancing when I was three years old. I always joke that I came out of the womb with jazz hands. From the age of seven, I started working professionally as a model and starred in adverts. I was a good dancer when I was a kid. I was able to do a lot of TV commercials that wanted a kid that could dance. It’s all I’ve ever known. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’m very lucky that I’ve been able to do the job that I love throughout my whole life.
I was scouted by The Big Breakfast producers who’d seen me on a Saturday morning kids TV programme. A lot of people don’t really know this, but I joined in 1996 and for a period of time I presented the show completely on my own before they found Johnny Vaughan to present with me. They tested me with lots of different presenters but Johnny came and we just instantly clicked.
As I’d go to bed at 8pm and get up at 3am, I had no social life and I had no idea that we were well known until we attended a couple of events and people were going: “Denise!” And we were like: “Oh my God, people know who we are”. It was really weird.
Johnny and I have had moments where we’ve had little fallouts and gone months without speaking but that’s just when you are young and a bit stupid. We were both a bit stubborn but we’ve come full circle now and we’re great friends. We do Celebrity Gogglebox together. We too send each other silly memes and stuff and just have a laugh.
I’m most proud of the one-woman show that Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote for me called Tell Me on a Sunday. I performed it solo in the West End when I was 27. It was an amazing experience to work so closely with Andrew and watch him create a show for me. I don’t think you always appreciate these things as much in the moment as you do later on in life. Young people message me on social media saying that they sing the songs that were written for me as their audition piece. How lovely is that?
My DJ career emerged after a relationship break-up four years ago. I was like: “Oh, OK, I found myself here again.” I didn’t want to be Bridget Jones, with a bottle of wine crying into a pillow. I have a 15-year-old daughter and I want her to look at me as a role model. Instead, I threw all my energy into DJ-ing. I watched YouTube tutorials and a DJ friend of mine helped. I just started putting together some sets and playing around and sort of self-taught myself to DJ. I managed to secure a spot at the Isle of Wight Festival, which was fun. I got spotted there, did some other gigs, and then my friend and I created a business called Discoliscious, putting together a little crew of DJs. We’ve managed to secure a residency at the big club in Ibiza. It’s kind of escalated quite quickly into something fabulous. It was like therapy for me. I channelled my energy into it.
Music has played a massive part of my life. I created an album [A Bit of Me] of songs that relate to moments in my memoir. Through The Big Breakfast I became friends with George Michael, so I have a cover of a George Michael track as well as of New York State of Mind as I used to listen to it in my apartment when I was in Chicago on Broadway. I decided to put it on stage and I’m going on tour this year, bringing together the songs and my stories. It’ll be nice to get back on a stage, sing again and integrate with people. There’ll be a Q&A section as people are always curious about what it’s like to be on Strictly or Gogglebox so I’ll be sharing some stories about the fun things I’ve done.
I’m lucky because I’ve had a lovely career so far. I muck in and do whatever I have to do to keep afloat. I like the graft. I like to work hard. I’m not one of those people that won’t do the smaller jobs because I think I’m above it. I’ll just get in and do whatever I have to do to. I love working. I still have situations where I’ll be going to a DJ gig and I’ll be getting myself ready in a toilet service station. I’m not fussy. I’m definitely not precious.
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Love has taught me to expect the unexpected. I’ve had great loves. I’ve had loves that have surprised me with behaviours that I wasn’t expecting. I was really hurt following my last break-up but my friend reminded me that I’m going to have the chance to fall in love all over again. How nice is that? I’ve been on Raya [the dating app]. I’ve paused it at the moment, because I’ve been so busy. At the moment, it’s all just about being with my family.
I’ve always wanted to write a sitcom. I’ve started writing one with a friend. It’s a bit of a slow burner as she’s an actress and she’s super busy but we connect every few weeks and write a little bit more. I’m not in any rush, but that’s on my bucket list.
An Evening With Denise Van Outen – Songs, Stories and All That Jazz is on a UK Tour from 1st March.
