Yahoo Finance Denise Van Outen on her career: Being in show business has left me guarded
Watch: Denise Van Outen and Eddie Boxshall have their sex chakras revealed and analysed
This year sees Denise Van Outen celebrating 40 years in show business, something she has says has made her put up walls when it comes to relationships.
The TV star made the revelation during a therapy session with boyfriend Eddie Boxshall for their new podcast Before We Say I Do.
“I've worked in an industry since the age of seven — it's all I've ever known — and I think I've had to learn to be quite guarded in that respect,” she said during the session.
Listen: Denise Van Outen opens up about why her childhood has made her a workaholic
She continued: “You can come up against a lot of jealousy, competitiveness and a lot of things that probably over the years, I've had to sort of build a little bit of a wall.”
Van Outen started her career at age seven modelling knitting patterns. Later, she appeared in several West End productions including Les Miserable as Éponine, eventually moving over to TV as a teenager with roles in The Bill, before having a brief pop career with girl band Those2Girls.
The star, who is currently appearing on The Celebrity Circle on Channel 4, was experiencing psychoenergetic therapy with partner Boxshall.
Created by therapist Mark Johnstone, psychoenergetics is an alternative therapy that eases suffering and promotes psycho-spiritual development.
The therapy combines more traditional therapy with energy healing and attempts to unlock deep-layer unconscious content.
During the session, Johnstone conjured up images of a whirlpool when attempting to connect with Van Outen, which Boxshall said was spot on about his partner of seven years.
Read more: 'The Celebrity Circle': Saffron Barker doesn't know who Denise Van Outen and Duncan James are
“She comes in and she's swirling around… She's a bit like that Tasmanian devil,” he laughed. “She’s in and she's out and she's forever circulating at just 200 miles an hour!”
Van Outen, who admitted that she’s often put career before love, agreed, saying she’s always got “a million things on” and that lockdown has actually been busier than ever for her.
“Over the past 12 months with all the disruptions of life, I've probably, weirdly enough, been more preoccupied with work and trying to keep busy because of not knowing what the future holds,” she admitted.
She continued: “That is a little bit of a survival instinct in me. It's a bit like, that at any point it could be taken away from me. We've seen first hand what's happening to a lot of people — I've had family members, friends lose their jobs — and it's an uncertain time”
While Van Outen is a whirlpool, the therapist said that Boxshall’s chakras imply that he is very unguarded and open hearted. While having such opposite personality types may cause, friction, Johnstone said that often it’s quite the opposite case.
Read more: Denise Van Outen and Eddie Boxshall say therapy sessions have made them closer
“There’s no reason why polar energies or polar opposites personality-wise can't be a fantastic, if not the best, complement for each other,” he told the pair.
“And it seems you guys have been able to make some magic through having that contradiction with each other.”
After the session, Van Outen said it had been really enjoyable just because it confirmed some things she already knew about partner Boxshall.
"I completely agree with everything that he [Johnstone] said... About how there's a bit of a blockage with your creativity, but the fact that you have got a big heart, it all made complete sense!" she stated.
And for Boxshall, he was surprised at just how deep the session went.
"The deeper we went into it, I found myself open up to a lot of things that I didn't think I would ever talk to you about," he told Van Outen.
"There's no denying that it's good therapy, that I personally got something out of this — the way that I feel about myself."
Van Outen met Boxshall in 2014 and the pair, who moved in together a couple of years ago, are hoping to get married once the pandemic is over.
Hear Denise Van Outen and Eddie Boxshall talk about the things the love about each other in this week’s episode of White Wine Question Time. Listen now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Watch: Denise Van Outen and Eddie Boxshall try out laughter therapy in their new podcast
