'The cherry on the cake will be when I meet a good man!'

Actress Denise Van Outen welcomes a new chapter in her life as she celebrates her milestone birthday and says she’s ready to meet Mr Right

- ROB MCGIBBON

Looking sensual and seductive, Essex-born actress, singer and dancer Denise Van Outen strikes an assured pose in a stunning new photoshoot to mark her milestone 50th birthday, which she celebrated on 27 May.

In an interview with journalist Rob McGibbon for his website, Denise, who has a 14-year-old daughter, Betsy, with ex-husband Lee Mead, reveals how she is striding into her fifties feeling “blessed” that so many aspects of her life are in the best shape ever.

Here, the former Big Breakfast presenter opens up about having therapy, dating, reuniting with Johnny Vaughan and fulfilling a daring lifetime ambition…

Hi, Denise! How are you feeling about your big birthday?

I feel great and I’m really happy about turning 50. With age comes wisdom, and I’ve learned a lot of things about caring for myself better. If I think back to how I was at 40, I can see that I definitely make much more of an effort to look after myself now. I’ve always kept myself physically fit because you have to be healthy in a career like mine. But these days I have a better balance and variety. I train in the gym and I play sport, like golf. I really look after myself and I only drink sporadically. I was a party girl in the 90s, but not too much because I was always working. I monitor my drinking and I’m more moderate now. If I go and party, I do it more during the day because I like a good night’s sleep. But the big difference these days is that I also look after my mental health. I never really did things like this in the past, but as you get older, you realise it’s so important to look after your mind as well as your body. I used to think therapy was a very sort of “American” thing, but I’ve since discovered that quite a lot of people do it – and I think it’s great.