Denise Van Outen has said she knew within 10 minutes of meeting her boyfriend that their relationship would “work”.

The screen and stage star, 42, and City trader boyfriend Eddie Boxshall, 44, have been together for three years after their first date was set up by a mutual friend.

Denise Van Outen in Hello! magazine (Hello!)
Denise Van Outen in Hello! magazine (Hello!)

Van Outen told Hello! magazine that she had rejected online dating.

“When I found myself single and just about to turn 40, I didn’t want to be on my mobile, swiping left and all that business,” the actress, who was previously married to actor Lee Mead, said.

“Constantly talking on a phone and messaging each other is a waste of time, you might as well go and meet that person and you’ll know within the first half hour if it will work or not. With Eddie I knew within ten minutes – we just clicked.”

Denise Van Outen and Steve Boxshall ( Dominic Lipinski/PA)
Denise Van Outen and Steve Boxshall ( Dominic Lipinski/PA)

She added: “All my best times with him are when it’s just the two of us.”

Boxshall said that he did not know he would be meeting a celebrity before his first date with the TV presenter, who has a daughter with ex-husband Mead.

“All I’d been told was that I would be meeting a woman called Denise, I had no idea it was Denise Van Outen. When I saw that it was her, it came as a surprise – a lovely one,” he said.

Hello! magazine
Hello! magazine

“To be honest, it was an advantage not knowing too much about her career because it meant there was even more for me to find out about her. The chemistry, for me, was definitely there and I couldn’t wait to see her again.”

:: The latest issue of Hello! is out now