Denise Van Outen reveals why she wants to stay single after 'hedonistic' summer with Hollywood star

Strictly star and former Big Breakfast host Denise Van Outen has been 'playing the field' since splitting with her property developer Jimmy Barbra and has no desire to be in a relationship

Hitting 50 has done nothing to diminish presenter and DJ ­Denise Van Outen’s lust for life.

In fact, the single actress reckons last summer was her most hedonistic for decades as she travelled the world for work and play. Among her highlights in the fun-packed year were partying in Ibiza with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and exchanging flirty messages with a Hollywood superstar.

Mum-of-one Denise reckons Angela, who is six years younger, lacks her stamina. She said: “She’s not as hardcore as me. I rolled out of there about five o’clock in the morning. I’m definitely more hardcore than Angela Raver.”

In August, the pair threw some shapes in the DJ box at Hi nightclub, which raised some eyebrows about the MP’s behaviour. Denise rushed to Angela’s defence, saying: “You are allowed to enjoy yourself a little. It’s only fair. She wasn’t drunk or anything. She was very lovely.

“We cheersed each other, then she turned away and raved on. It was a bit unexpected. She was only in there for maybe an hour. From what I understand, she’s friends with Fisher, the DJ.”

But despite her stamina, the summer of partying has taken its toll on Denise. She is on a self-imposed booze ban to recharge her battery.

“This summer has probably been the most sort of hedonistic summer I’ve had since the 90s. I’ve had a lot of fun a lot of going out lot of drinking rosé wine in the summer and enjoying myself. But I’m good at knowing when to stop.”

She split from property developer Jimmy Barba in November last year is embracing life as a single lady, but is enjoying playing the field and swapped flirty messages with a superstar on exclusive dating app Raya. Denise said: “I did connect with one massive Hollywood star. We had a little bit of the chat, but I don’t live in LA, so I thought, he’s not going to come to ­Chelmsford.

“I loved it [Raya]. I’ve made some friends. I go on dates. I’m not an angel. I’m out having a good time.” But after hearing pals’ experiences, Denise is in no rush to enter another relationship.

She said: “My friends in these long-term relationships are all moaning to me anyway. They say they don’t have sex and argue all the time. They try to creep in at night when their other half’s asleep in bed.”

At the moment, Denise is all about self-love. She said: “I feel happier now than I used to, because I’m more content in myself. As we start to get older, you hear of people getting the illnesses.

"I lost a friend when she was quite young. It made me realise it’s more important to celebrate the fact you’re still here and still able to enjoy yourself and do things.”

Juggling work and being a single parent to 14-year-old Betsy, her daughter with ex-Lee Mead, 43, means Denise has a lot on her plate. She said: "Parenting a teenager is always going to be tricky.

“I’m very lucky that I get on with Betsy’s father brilliantly. So we have a really good relationship as friends. When he picks up Betsy he comes in for a cup of tea. I’m always busy working, and it’s hard to find the balance. I think it’s got easier as Betsy’s got older, as she understands more and she’s less bothered about hanging out with me. She wants to be with her friends, so I feel less guilty about taking certain work opportunities.”

One of those is working with her old Big Breakfast pal Johnny Vaughan, 58. She said: “I’ve got some new shows commissioned with Channel 4. I’m working on with Johnny Vaughan – I’m not allowed to say on what – but I did ­Googlebox with him this summer, hopefully we’ll get back to doing that again.

“I’ve got a lot of DJ gigs lined up, great summer festivals, some more Ibiza residency gigs. I’ve got much more telly coming up, which is really good. It’ll be another year of some but not all yeses. I need to allow myself a bit of life as well.”Denise has teamed up with Talking Futures, a campaign and online resource to help parents chat to their 11-18 years olds about future education and career options.

She stars in a new film where she goes “back to school”. For more info visit talkingfutures.org.uk.

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