Amanda Holden

Amanda Holden is grateful to Simon Cowell for rescuing her career.

The former actress’ reputation took a battering after she cheated on her then husband Les Dennis with Neil Morrissey and Amanda says getting the chance to work on Simon’s ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ helped people to see that she is actually a nice person.

She told The Sun newspaper: “I’m grateful to Simon. Obviously he’s made me a lot of money but he also gave me an amazing profile change.

“I am a terrible flirt, I come from a family of them. My grandmother still pinches bottoms at the age of 92.

“But I always thought of myself as a good girl - and then things happened and I realised no one else did.”

This year saw changes to the panel with Simon returning and David Walliams and Alesha Dixon also joining the show and Amanda has been praised by the former ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ judge.

Alesha said: “Simon and David had the bromance but Amanda and I are just as close, maybe closer. We’re 100 per cent friends.”

“Simon’s really open about not wanting to change the panel. We all want to come back and can’t wait for 2013.

“I love being on ‘BGT’. I watch ‘X Factor’ and I’m a fan but it’s a completely different show because on the X Factor the judges are competing against one another so there is bound to be that bit of tension, whereas we’re in it together as a team.”