Les Dennis on the real reason he quit as host of Family Fortunes

Les Dennis has revealed he gave up presenting Family Fortunes because of an ‘insulting’ offer from bosses which would have seen his pay slashed by 98 per cent.

Screen star Les, 69, hosted the gameshow for 15 years from 1987 until 2002 but quit suddenly after it changed to a daytime slot.

After turning down their offer, he decided to go on the second series of and admitted his aim was to ‘kickstart’ his career.

He landed him a gig on ‘ Extras, where he played a fictional version of himself – which he credits as the start of a ‘reinvention’ into a successful acting career.

Speaking on the podcast, Les said: domino4d ‘When Ricky called, I’d just come out of the Big Brother house and the phone wasn’t you know [ringing].

‘I went in thinking that I was going to get a reboot.

‘Everybody says they go into the Big Brother house or a show like that for charity or whatever, and certainly at that time there was no fee when we were doing those.

‘You say “oh I’m going in for charity”, but I was going in to try and kickstart again because Family Fortunes had ended.

‘I’d decided to leave it because it had gone to a daytime slot and I left it because of money, to be honest.

‘They offered an insultingly 98 per cent pay cut – time to go at the right time while it’s still a great show.’

The actor continued: ‘The phone wasn’t ringing until Ricky Gervais called and offered me the twisted, demented version of myself.

‘A lot of friends said “don’t do it Les, they’re just taking the micky”, but they weren’t, he was giving me the chance to show I had a sense of humour about being called Les Miserables.

‘Who would’ve known that would then lead to a reinvention and to the English National Opera and the Royal Shakespeare Company.’

Meanwhile, 

Les got married to Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda, 52, in 1995 when she was 22 and he was 40, before divorcing eight years later.

Television presenter Les was managed by Chris’s dad Mike Hughes at the beginning of his career and first met the record producer when he was a small child.

Les said: ‘I tell this story in my book that when Mike became my manager in 1973 and Lynne and I were about to get married – my first wife, Lynne – we were excited that Mike had become my manager.

‘She said, “let’s drive past his house” because he lived on Queens Drive in Liverpool, we passed, and the curtains were open, and I went, “look, there he is”, and we saw Mike Hughes picking up a little child and swinging the child around.

‘Lynne, later, after a lot of things had happened in my life said to me, “Just think, if we’d known then, had somebody tapped on our shoulders as we were sat in the front of the car and said to us then that you two are going to marry next year, but your marriage won’t last, and you Les will marry a younger woman who will one day then marry the child that is being swung around in that room.’

Les was married to Lynn from 1974-1990 and with whom he shares son Phillip, before going on to wed Claire Nicholson in 2009 and welcoming two children.

Meanwhile Amanda tied the knot with Chris in 2008 and they have