My mum loves cats so I took her to see the lion cubs which at about a year old are actually quite big. She wasn't scared at all and went straight over and kissed one on the mouth! She thought they were just like her pets at home.

In January 2010 Amanda Holden started a new three-part show called Amanda Holden's Fantasy Lives. Holden has since been signed up with CBS as a British correspondent for The Early Show. In 2011 Holden hosted one-off documentary The Nation's Favourite Bee Gees Song on ITV.

Among her roles are Mia Bevan in Cutting It Sarah Trevanion in Wild at Heart and the title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie for which Amanda Holden was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award. Since 2007 Holden has been a judge on Britain's Got Talent. She is married to record producer Chris Hughes.