Denise Van Outen and her boyfriend Eddie Boxshall have been winning legions of fans with their hilarious banter on Celebrity Gogglebox, but she’s admitted to having a less than flattering first impression about him. 

The former Big Breakfast presenter met Eddie after being set up on a blind date by a mutual friend in 2014.

But speaking to Kate Thornton on Yahoo’s White Wine Question Time podcast, Denise revealed she wasn’t exactly thrilled about her upcoming date after being shown a picture of Eddie. 

She said: “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. 

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

Denise said that when she saw his picture, she thought he “looked like an old man”. 

“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!’”

However, the couple have been together ever since, living together in Chelmsford where they film their appearances on Celebrity Gogglebox. 

Denise, 46, has a daughter with ex-husband, Holby City star Lee Mead, while Eddie, also 46, has two children from a previous relationship. 

Despite being together for six years, the couple recently revealed they don’t currently have any plans to wed. 

Speaking to OK! magazine, Denise said: “It’s not something we’ve spoken about much because we’ve taken everything in our relationship at a slower pace.

“At the moment we’re in our new house and we’re getting it all done up.”

Eddie, who is commodities trader specialising in the oil business, then revealed if they were to tie the knot “it would be a huge celebration”.

White Wine Question Time is available to stream on all good podcast services.