Denise Van Outen reveals her first impressions on boyfriend Eddie Boxshall: 'I thought he looked like Bruce Forsyth'

Denise Van Outen and partner Eddie Boxshall, who are currently appearing on Celebrity Googlebox together, have been dating for six years after being set up on a blind date.

Speaking on White Wine Question Time, the former Big Breakfast host told podcast host and close pal Kate Thornton that she and Eddie were set up together by a close friend.

“I was well up for going on a blind date, because I'm not one of those people that would ever do the apps or anything and all that,” said Van Outen.

“It's just not me. I'm a bit old school like that. And I trusted my friend and thought, right, why not?”

When Denise asked to see a photograph of her potential date though, the date nearly didn’t happen!

“I thought you looked a bit like Bruce Forsyth!” she told Eddie on the podcast.

She continued: “I see myself as still looking like 21 – you know, when you think you still look all right and you don't see anything – I thought I look good for my age. Then they sent me a picture of you with grey hair and I thought ‘He looks like an old man!’”

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Meanwhile, Boxshall assumed his friend Adam was joking when he sent him a photo of Denise. This continued when Eddie went for their date at London members’ club Soho House and the receptionist told him who he would be meeting.

“I said, 'Oh, has Adam put you up to this?’” he recalled, laughing.

Thankfully, the date went well and the couple have experienced many fabulous times since that initial meeting.

Asked by Thornton to recall their best ever date, the pair agreed it had to be the time they stayed on their own private island.

“We were very lucky to go to the Maldives on a really nice little trip,” remembered Van Outen. “My friend had organised, as a surprise, for us to go and have dinner on a private island.”

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The pair got to spend the night on their deserted island, and after having a feast cooked for them, they were left alone for the night.

“I completely stripped off naked because I thought, I just want to run around the island and feel free,” Van Outen told Thornton, laughing that Eddie wouldn’t join in with her and insisted on keeping his pants on.

“He was convinced we were being watched,” laughed Van Outen.

While the pair have enjoyed many glamorous moments together, lockdown has seen them grapple with some of the more normal issues most couples have been dealing with such as home hairdressing and keeping the house tidy, but Van Outen has one particular pet hate.

“We've got in our bathroom, a towel rail, which is heated,” explained Van Outen. “If you're having a shower or anything, it's common sense isn't it? You just put your wet towel on it.

“Eddie doesn't. He will find a door, any door, and not even hang it on the back of the door where there are hooks… He hangs it over the door.

“That really irritates me and also beard trim - I find it everywhere!”

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While Boxshall said he hates it when Van Outen talks over him or doesn’t listen to him, the pair agreed that getting annoyed with each other was just part of normal life together.

“I do think it’s quite normal, isn’t?” said Van Outen, who said that her friends also quarrel about the same thing with their other halves.

The couple finally moved in together last year and Boxshall is definitely glad he went on that first date.

“I've landed on my feet,” he said. “She's beautiful and she's funny!

Hear Denise Van Outen and Eddie Boxshall talk about the real stories behind their Instagram photos on the latest episode of White Wine Question Time. Listen now on iTunes and Spotify.