van outen admits enders snub
By Jessica Callan
TV star Denise Van Outen has revealed she snubbed a part in EastEnders because she wanted to work with "credible" actors.
The actress, 30, was offered the role of gangster's moll Tina Stewart - seen stripped to her underwear soon after arriving in Albert Square.
But Denise, no stranger to posing for saucy photos, was not keen to strip off on screen. She said: "It's hard for actresses to get roles which don't involve taking your clothes off at the drop of a hat. It's all out to shock. I didn't want to do the obvious role.
"That would be easy for me to walk into. It's a tart with a heart character and would have been very predictable."
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Instead Denise joined ITV1 drama Where The Heart Is, in a further blow to ailing EastEnders, which has seen ratings slump to six million.
She insisted: "People may think it's an odd choice because it's not the coolest, trendiest thing.
"But it's something with real, credible actors, rather than going into something that in the first two scenes has me taking my clothes off and snogging the face off someone." The ex-Big Breakfast host added: "I know EastEnders is going through a tough time but that's not the reason I said no. My decision was purely because of the character."
Denise won rave reviews for her lead role in the musical Chicago in the West End and on Broadway. And she wowed critics in last year's one-woman West End show Tell Me on a Sunday.
But she is also known for her racy off-screen antics, such as larking around with comic Graham Norton for a salad cream ad campaign and baring her cleavage for photographers. She has also modelled in raunchy fashion shows.
The Daily Mirror revealed earlier this month she is dating record label boss Ferdie Unger-Hamilton, 34, who has also been out with Dido and Minnie Driver. He and Denise have been pals for years but they met up again at Christmas and started seeing each other last month.
Ferdie has visited her on-set in Huddersfield while she was filming Where The Heart Is.
Denise split up from Browns club owner Richard Traviss last November after three years. They lived in Marylebone and were planning on moving into a £1.8million Penthouse nearby just before they broke up.
She was then pictured with Little Britain star David Walliams leaving a party after the Brit Awards in February.
Where The Heart Is viewers will see Denise play nurse and single mum Kim Blakeney next month.
The Albert Square role of Tina, gangster Johnny Allen's mistress, went to Charlotte Avery, 41. But critics have dubbed the character Tina Turnoff.
this is such a shame she would of been perfect for the part and i think she could of took the character alot further and made her more sinister
