Denise Van Outen nearly knocked herself out after running into helicopter live on The Big Breakfast
Denise Van Outen "nearly knocked [herself] out" after she ran into a helicopter while delivering a live weather report on The Big Breakfast.
Denise Van Outen "nearly knocked [herself] out" after she ran into a helicopter while doing a live weather report on The Big Breakfast.
The mishap remains one of the 52-year-old star's most embarrassing career moments.
Denise exclusively told BANG Showbiz on behalf of Sky Vegas: "In my career, when I started working on The Big Breakfast. I used to do the weather reports from a helicopter, and one morning, live on air, because I was running and talking on my microphone while looking at the camera, I ran into the helicopter and nearly knocked myself out. That was a bit embarrassing."
What's worse is Denise watching herself back, screaming through horror movies on Channel 4's Celebrity Gogglebox.
She said: "The thing I find cringeworthy when I watch it back is me screaming when horror films are on."
Denise "lied every day" for weeks to land a role on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast, which she joined in 1996 as a weather and phone-in presenter.
She explained on a 2022 episode of The Big Narstie Show: "When I first went for The Big Breakfast, I thought I was going for the main presenting job, but then I found out I was actually auditioning for the weather girl.
"I thought – I'm just going to have to lie my way through this. So I pretended I had done a meteorological course. And I managed to get through it.
"And then I got the job, and I was like, 'S***, I don't know anything about the weather!' Because I'd pretended I'd studied it."
She lied her way through the weather reports.
Denise added: "When I started the show, I had to ring up ITN in the morning and get the weather report from them! My first contract there was for six weeks, and I literally lied every day that I could do it, so I had to just make it up.
"But in the end of it, they offered me the main presenter role, so it worked.
"But it got to the point where I was such a s*** weather girl that I was just flying round in the helicopter like, if you want to know what the weather is like just look out your window!"
Denise and Johnny Vaughan, 59, fronted The Big Breakfast from 1997 until 1999, when she left after the pair fell out over contract negotiations and pay.
In 2021, Denise revealed that she and Johnny ended their 23-year feud and are now good pals.
