Heart Radio’s Amanda Holden has let her fans in on the latest adventure she’s embarked upon with hubby Chris Hughes. Just earlier this week, the 54-year-old shared how Chris suggested they should invest more time into their relationship due to their careers often leading them to live “separate lives”.
Much to her astonishment, he signed them up for badminton, and they had their inaugural match against each other on Wednesday. Before going head-to-head with Chris, Amanda was coached by a badminton pro named Leon during a live segment on Heart Radio, where she got some hot tips like sporting the right shoes and perfecting an underarm serve.
With victory in sight, Amanda was instructed by her coach to keep the shuttle close to the net, making Chris work for every point on the court. On Thursday’s radio broadcast, Amanda couldn’t contain her excitement as she recounted their competitive yet delightful date night: “We just got into the swing of it and we absolutely loved it.”
She added: “We played for a good solid hour, we just knocked about a bit, we just played about. He won 21-15 but I thought that wasn’t bad for me.”
She revealed a cheeky tactic, saying: “I played it short like you [Jamie Theakston] told me, but I never told him that you told me do that.” Despite this strategy, Amanda confessed to a misstep in her game attire but quickly rectified the situation by ordering the proper footwear post-match.
Wrapping up her commentary with a hopeful outlook on their sportsmanship, she said: “This is the start of a beautiful… yes… we’ve just got to find the time each week, as obviously that is where we struggle. Honestly, we had such a laugh and then all night we were saying how much we loved it.”
Amanda and her hubby Chris have been an item for more than two decades, having exchanged vows in 2008. The duo are doting parents to Lexi, 19, and Hollie, age 13.
Listeners can tune into Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden every weekday beginning at 6.30am.
Don’t miss Amanda and Alan’s Spanish Job, which hits the screen tonight at 8.30pm on BBC One.
Celeb obsessed? Get a daily dose of showbiz gossip direct to your inbox