Denise Van Outen shares embarrassing moment where she face-planted in front of A-list celebrities

Denise Van Outen reveals the true story behind one of her favourite Instagram photos (Getty)
Denise Van Outen reveals the true story behind one of her favourite Instagram photos (Getty)

Celebrity Gogglebox star Denise Van Outen has revealed the rather painful story behind a very glossy photo of her and boyfriend Eddie Boxshall.

Denise, who was appearing on White Wine Question Time alongside Eddie, shared her cringeworthy memories of a time where she fell over, in front of some rather famous faces, with podcast host Kate Thornton.

The couple, who had at the time only been dating for a couple of years, were taking part in the annual Costa Smeralda Invitational, a glamorous charity event in Sardinia.

Read more: Denise Van Outen on making scrubs from home to help NHS staff

“We were lucky enough to go for a charity event and we were playing golf there,” said Boxshall.

“After the day's golf, they had the gala evening. It was beautiful out there. The weather was gorgeous.”

The pair dressed up for the night and – as seen in Van Outen’s Instagram post – were looking totally gorgeous, however, behind the scenes, things were not quite as serene!

Boxshall, who appears alongside Van Outen on Celebrity Gogglebox, explained the pair had to navigate some very steep steps on their way to the gala, which were literally Denise’s downfall.

“Sardinia is really quite hilly and where we were in the hotel, so there's a lot of steps coming down,” he said.

“We're walking down and we’ve literally - I was just gonna say nailed it, but she nearly nailed it. We literally got to the last step and then she just took off...

Read more: Denise Van Outen started drinking again in lockdown after year of sobriety

“I could just feel her go. I felt the quick turn of the ankle and it sort of went in slow motion and I thought 'Please don't go. Please don't fall.' She just went! She faceplanted straight on the floor.”

If that wasn’t bad enough, the actress fell in front of a rather A-list audience. Various celebrities such as actor Dougray Scott and golfer Justin Rose were enjoying a drink, while they watched the arrivals.

“They were all standing there having cocktails and watched each person come in,” remembered Van Outen who said the shoes she was wearing at the time were ‘super, super high.’

She continued: “They were all staring at me! It was so awkward because nobody knew what to do. Normally someone would come over and go 'Are you all right?' It was just like they were all standing there just looking at me and going 'Oh, that poor girl'.”

Denise Van Outen, managing to stay upright in her 'super high heels' on the night in question (Getty)
Denise Van Outen, managing to stay upright in her 'super high heels' on the night in question (Getty)

While Boxshall offered his help, Van Outen was adamant she was going to ‘style it out’ but unfortunately the fall left her with a huge cut on her knee, which was covered by her gorgeous cream dress.

“I had a drippy bloody knee underneath that and my leg was killing me,” she told host and close mate Kate Thornton.

“You know when you think you've really injured yourself and then I had to walk – and the walk down to where the restaurant was really long and I was in agony!”

Read more: Denise Van Outen and boyfriend Eddie Boxshall open up about living together

Boxshall, who remarked she was walking like Long John Silver, said they then went and had their photo taken but then spent the rest of the night apart.

He recalled: “After that photograph was taken, as we walked off, she split to the left, I split to the light and we didn't speak to each other the rest of the night!”

Van Outen said the picture still makes them laugh to this day – especially as it was reproduced in the media the next day.

“This picture made all the press,” she laughed. “This is why, for us, it's quite funny because they were saying how glamorous we looked as a couple… If only they knew the reality.”

Denise Van Outen and Eddie Boxshall talk more about their relationship, coping in lockdown and much more on this week’s episode of White Wine Question Time. Listen now on iTunes and Spotify.