Denise's ladette regret

She was one of the original ladettes.

Along with DJs Zoe Ball and Sara Cox, Denise Van Outen revelled in her image as a hard-drinking, party-going girl about town.

But after reaching 30, the former Big Breakfast presenter says she bitterly regrets her past antics, including hosting the vulgar Channel 4 show, Something for the Weekend.

One stunt involved a girl trying to identify her fiance from his genitals. 'At the time, I thought it was funny,' Miss Van Outen says. 'It wasn't until the work dried up that I realised it probably wasn't. I can relate to Kylie saying things have gone too far with all the sexual content on television. I believe that's true. But then who I am to talk, because I started it?'

Miss Van Outen, talking to Marie Claire magazine, says she was barred from royal events after stealing an ashtray during a Buckingham Palace reception in 1998.

She adds: 'I was fun to be around, but it was all at my own expense, because I suffered professionally. I had to eat huge humble pie.'

Three years ago, after a break from showbusiness, Miss Van Outen reemerged with a role in the West End production of Chicago, which she later took to New York. Now, along with former Big Breakfast co-host Johnny Vaughan, she is the new face of BBC1 on Saturday nights.

Their variety show, Johnny & Denise - Passport to Paradise, begins this weekend.

For additional photographs and the full interview, by David Hepworth, see the August issue of Marie Claire - on sale July 1.