For the first time in two decades, Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen are presenting a show together.
The Radio X DJ, 56, and Denise, 49, will take over Steph’s Packed Lunch on Channel 4 the following Tuesday (June 13).
The West End musical star and Johnny originally collaborated in the 1990s for the freshly revived The Big Breakfast.
The last time the pair presented a show together was in 2004 on the BBC’s Saturday night entertainment series, Passport to Paradise.
Speaking on Tuesday’s Steph’s Pack Lunch, Denise said: ‘We speak all the time and we keep saying we need to do something together and this just feels like the perfect time for us. I can’t wait, I’m so excited.’
Johnny, meanwhile, joked: ‘We’ve had Blur, there are rumours flowing about the Gallagher Brothers and now, we can now confirm, it’s the big one, the 90s reunion you been waiting for … Johnny and Denise, and I can’t wait.’
Denise departed The Big Breakfast in 2000 due to a wage disagreement, after learning that contract negotiations had resulted in Johnny receiving more than her for the same position.
In 2017, Denise opened up about the issue, and during an appearance on Loose Women explained: ‘I had a big fallout with Johnny Vaughan when we worked on The Big Breakfast and at that time we were like brother and sister. We were best friends, unbreakable.
‘The whole relationship fell apart when we started to renegotiate our contracts because I always felt we worked together as a team and that’s how it should be. We created it together.’
Not just us, but the entire show’s production staff. ‘I’ve always had the mindset that it was all about us,’ she said.
She later realised, however, that his representative had been negotiating for him independently.
‘I found out and obviously confronted him and I realised then at that point that our friendship had gone in two different directions and for me it was tarnished,’ she said.
‘That’s why I left the show because I knew at that point that it would never be the same.’
Denise, on the other hand, claimed in 2021 that she had buried the hatchet with Johnny after their 20-year feud.
‘Johnny and I have had a bit of a rocky relationship over the years for various reasons and, funnily enough, we’ve messaged a lot in lockdown,’ she told The Mirror.
‘These situations make you reflect and realise some of the silly niggles and arguments you have are just not worth it.’
The Big Breakfast finally ended in 2002, with performers such as Richard Bacon and Donna Air presenting the final three years.
In honour of the show’s 30th anniversary, Mo Gilligan will present a one-time special this autumn.
Steph McGovern will return to Steph’s Packed Lunch on Wednesday (June 14).
Steph’s Packed Lunch airs on Channel 4 from 12pm on weekdays.
