Ahead of hosting on BBC One’s The Celebrity Inner Circle this weekend, Amanda Holden has lashed out at suggestions that her children are “nepo babies.”
Admitting that her daughter Lexi’s numerous appearances alongside her at high-profile red carpet events may have helped the 19-year-old snag a contract with top model agency Storm, the BGT judge says her daughters really aren’t obsessed with fame at all.
“It’s so weird,” Amanda told Closer Magazine, “they’ve sort of grown up with it all. They’ve come to Britain’s Got Talent and I wish I could say they were really excited and super thrilled by it all, but they’re just not.”
However, Amanda also revealed she wants her 13-year-old daughter Hollie to front a special junior version of The Inner Circle, adding: “Hollie came and stood on the podium and did my job and loved it, so I’ve got her all teed up for the junior version. She’d be a fabulous presenter for that.”
Meanwhile, Amanda has acknowledged that she wanted to help Lexi “get in somewhere” and sees nothing wrong with giving her kids a leg-up.
“When I was young, I got a job in a fruit ‘n’ veg shop because my mum knew the fruit ‘n’ veg guy,” she says. “If you know someone that can help your child get in somewhere, you’ll do whatever.”
Amanda complained it was unfair that people were calling her daughters “nepo babies”, just because she and husband Chris work in the entertainment industry: “The word ‘nepo’ can be thrown around forever, but it’s unfair it’s been used in showbiz.”
The star insisted that her daughters are making a name for themselves on their own merits: “They have to have talent and backbone, and work to succeed.”
Lexi, for example, has boosted her own profile this week by posting snaps from a topless glamour shoot to her Instagram page.
She also appeared in a catwalk show for Vietnamese fashion brand Tran Hung at London Fashion Week last year, announcing: “I was absolutely terrified but I enjoyed the entire experience.”
Amanda added that she and husband Chris Hughes were thrilled to see their daughter making a start in the world of modelling: “We couldn’t have been more proud of our daughter this evening walking in her first LFW show,” she said.
“This year has been a significant one for her, she has worked really hard with her A-levels and she got herself into a top university. Chris and I love her to bits, and her little sister Hollie looks up to her so much. It’s a wonderful moment for her.”
Lexi has since modelled for swimwear brand Naia Beach, and Amanda says it’s great that she’s earning while she’s still at university, and won’t end up finishing her degree with the burden of a student loan hanging over her: “She’s not going to come out with a debt – that’s amazing,” the presenter said.