Denise Van Outen shares unlikely way to finding love after divorce

Daily Mirror

31-05-2025

EXCLUSIVE: Singer and TV host, Denise Van Outen, said she took up golf after her divorce because she wanted to meet 'loads of men' and found most of her male pals had taken up the sport
Denise Van Outen says she teed up the best way to find a new man - by taking up golf. The presenter and singer reveals she first took a punt on putting to bag a date. After divorcing, Denise saw it as a better option compared to dating sites and boozy nights out.
'The reason I got into it - this is the truth - it was after my divorce, and I wanted to go somewhere where there are just loads of men,' coughed Denise. 'I just went 'Where can I go?' - I remember being with my friend.
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"Because when you're young, you just go to a nightclub. And I was like 'I'm not going to be able to do that now, and I just don't want to spend all night in the nightclub'. I was like 'Where have all the nightclubbers gone?' And I looked, and most of my male friends have grown up and got into golf. I thought 'Perfect'.' Former Strictly runner-up, Denise, 51, also now a successful DJ, divorced Any Dream Will Do winner Lee Mead, with whom she has daughter Betsy, ten years ago.
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She is now reported to have a new businessman partner, Adam Butler, who joined her on holiday in the Maldives last month. She previously dated trader Eddie Boxshall and Italian property businessman Jimmy Barber, whom she split from in November last year after 18 months together.
But she has retained her love for golf and is now keen to see more women take up golf, after being told her idea will spark a rush of women heading for the golf course. She said it is good to find a new passion later in life and told the Pack Your Bags podcast: 'We need more women playing golf.
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'I've travelled with that and gone to some lovely places. I centre a lot of my holidays around either golf or DJing. I can play. I can hit a ball.'
She said the 'most fun' course she has ever played was one in Barbados where players keep being brought cocktails by staff on buggies. Asked how that affects her performance, she said: 'It normally gets better and then it starts to really go downhill quite rapidly.'
Following her split from Jimmy, Denise told the Mirror: 'This summer has probably been the most sort of hedonistic summer I've had since the 90s. I've had a lot of fun a lot of going out lot of drinking rosé wine in the summer and enjoying myself. But I'm good at knowing when to stop.'
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She previously opened up on how she was exploring new romantic possibilities after joining the celebrity dating app Raya. Denise said: 'I did connect with one massive Hollywood star. We had a little bit of the chat, but I don't live in LA, so I thought, he's not going to come to ­Chelmsford.
'I loved it [Raya]. I've made some friends. I go on dates. I'm not an angel. I'm out having a good time." But after hearing pals' experiences, Denise is in no rush to enter another relationship.
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She shared: "My friends in these long-term relationships are all moaning to me anyway. They say they don't have sex and argue all the time. They try to creep in at night when their other half's asleep in bed.'
Denise added: 'I feel happier now than I used to, because I'm more content in myself. As we start to get older, you hear of people getting the illnesses.
"I lost a friend when she was quite young. It made me realise it's more important to celebrate the fact you're still here and still able to enjoy yourself and do things.'
Denise has had a rocky love life as she was married to performer Lee Mead but divorced in 2015, and she later dated Eddie Boxshall. In 2022, they broke up following allegations of illicit text exchanges with other women behind her back. She discovered love again with Jimmy, who appeared to have mended her broken heart, but they later split.