Denise Van OutenDenise van Outen has criticised the current crop of London celebrity party animals for putting their social lives above their careers.

Denise, along with Zoe Ball, Sara Cox and Nicole & Natalie Appleton, helped bring the term ‘ladette’ in prominence with their hard partying lifestyles in the early/mid-1990s but Denise insists: “We all worked. We had fun, but we all still got on with doing our jobs.”

“I was never late for [presenting] The Big Breakfast even if we stayed out, we’d get in from a party and do the live show.”

“But now it’s taken a bit of a turn because people don’t turn up [for work] and are locked in hotel rooms or housing in Camden.”

Denise is currently back working with her Big Breakfast co-host Johnny Vaughn on the Capital FM Breakfast Show but despite a positive reception and helping to boost the show’s audience, she doesn’t think she’ll extend her stay after her 12-month contract runs out at the start of next year: “I only went on as a guest in November and that show had a really good reaction and response from listeners. The next day the boss rang me and asked me to join.”

“But I really struggle to cope with the early mornings and going to bed at 9pm.”

“Who knows if I’ll stay on, but I doubt if I’ll stay further than the year.”