Neil Morrissey was once famous for playing womaniser Tony in Men Behaving Badly, something which seemed to spill over into his real life when he was caught having an affair with Amanda Holden.
If you weren’t around at the time, it was a HUGE scandal – taking over every tabloid and magazine front page. It also signalled the end of Amanda’s marriage to husband Les Dennis.
As showbiz bombshells go, they don’t get much more explosive. However, after a period of repentance, Neil has clawed back his credibility, and returned to the top of the TV food chain. Thanks largely to his role in Line of Duty in 2012.
So what has Neil Morrissey said about his infamous affair with the married Amanda Holden? What else has he been in, and why was his childhood so tough?
Here’s everything you need to know…
What is Neil Morrissey famous for (apart from Amanda Holden affair)?
Neil Morrissey is arguably most famous for playing Tony Smart in BBC One‘s Men Behaving Badly. He joined the comedy in 1992 for series 2, replacing Harry Enfield’s character Dermot, who left after series one.
The actor played Gary’s womanising flatmate, who was infatuated with Deborah. Despite being well meaning, he had a habit of annoying everyone around him with his thoughtless comments and erratic behaviour. He also had musical ambitions which did not match his abilities!
Of course, Neil starred in the sitcom alongside an all-star cast including Martin Clunes, Leslie Ash, and Caroline Quentin. When the series came to an end in 1998, all of the cast went on to enjoy huge TV success, not least Neil Morrissey.
What else has Neil Morrissey been in?
TV fans will know Neil from his career spanning 40 years. Although he worked for years before his role on Men Behaving Badly in 1992, he became known for his comedic roles.
He played Boon’s sidekick Rocky Cassidy from 1987 to 1995, and led the cast of The Vanishing Man, Paradise Heights, The Eustace Bros, and then Barry in sitcom Carrie & Barry.
From 2007 to 2009, he portrayed Eddie Lawson in Waterloo Road, a show he later criticised. Despite being brave/foolish enough to launch a tirade at a big BBC show, he went on to work again. In 2012, he starred as Jason in Me and Mrs Jones.
Over the past decade, Neil has become known for more serious roles. He played Harry Palfrey in The Night Manager, Harding Redmond in Grantchester, and Vincent Pike in Striking Out.
Line of Duty fans will, of course, know him as super dodgy Nigel Morton in the drama about bent coppers. He has also starred as Pete Carr in Unforgotten, Colin in The Trial of Christine Keeler, and Luke Douglas in Penance.
More recently, Neil has played Frank in The Syndicate, Christopher Reasley in The Long Call, and Greg McConnell in The Good Karma Hospital. Mum’s across the UK will also know that Neil was the voice of Bob the Builder for many years.
Neil is currently playing Martin Stone in Finders Keepers on Channel 5. He portrays amateur detectorist Martin, who runs his own small engineering business and is a local history nut.
He faces a huge – and potentially life-changing moral dilemma – when he and his future son-in-law find millions of pounds worth of historical artifacts. Will he do the right thing? It’s a firm no!
How old is Neil Morrissey? Where is he from?
Neil Anthony Morrissey was born on July 04 1962 in Stafford, England.
At the time of writing, he is 61 years of age.
Despite a difficult childhood being raised in foster care, Neil attended Thistley Hough High School in Penkhull, and he passed all of his CSEs.
He went on to study his A-levels at the City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College. He discovered a love of acting during his teenage years at Stoke Schools Theatre, and went on to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Neil subsequently attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama after receiving an educational grant.
Did Neil have a wife during Amanda Holden affair?
Neil Morrissey was married to his first wife Amanda Noar from 1987, until their divorce in 1991. British actress Amanda played Rose Finnegan in the Channel 4 soap Brookside.
The pair met when she guested in an episode of Boon in 1987. She played a receptionist at Alberry House. That same year, they married.
Two years later, in 1989, the couple had a son. In 1990, the pair starred together in the film I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle. After just four years, they divorced. While Neil never remarried, Amanda wed Emir Guleryuz in 1998.
Neil was single when he embarked on his much-publicised affair with Amanda Holden.
Who is Neil’s partner?
After Neil’s divorce from Amanda in 1991, Neil became engaged to Casualty actress Elizabeth Carling. They also met on the set of Boon. He reportedly cheated on her with Rachel Weisz.
Neil subsequently dated Rachel – now wife of Bond actor Daniel Craig – after they starred together in My Summer with Des in 1998. She moved in to his Crouch End home, but the relationship didn’t last.
She later said: “I wasn’t comfortable with the attention while I was in that fairly high-profile relationship. Neil embraced the whole gossipy press culture but I didn’t.”
Of course, in 2000, Neil Morrissey had an affair with Amanda Holden, who he met filming Happy Birthday, Shakespeare. She was married to Les Dennis at the time.
Neil’s last known girlfriend was lawyer Emma Killick. The pair shared a home together, but have not been pictured publicly for several years.
In 2020, Neil said: “My partner Emma keeps my feet on the ground. She’s a lot of fun and very organised and she accepts all my madness and quirks and hangovers from childhood that may manifest themselves, like not opening letters because it might be bad news.”
He has also referred to Emma as “The One”.
Does he have a daughter or any chidlren?
Neil Morrissey has one son, called Sam, his child with former wife Amanda Noar.
Sam, now 35, is a screenwriter after winning a scholarship to a private school and getting a first at uni. Speaking to the Guardian in 2002, Neil addressed the highs and lows of being a celebrity parent. He said: “It’s great having a famous dad when you get jumped up the queue for the London Eye, but there’s always a downside.
“His mates at school can read – and that’s hard because, at that age, your knowledge of the universe doesn’t really cover the complexities of a badly written tabloid story. But there were kids at drama school whose parents were famous and they couldn’t stand the sight of them, so it could go either way.”
Did Neil Morrissey have an affair with Amanda Holden?
As well as his career, Neil is pretty notorious for his private life. He famously had a fling with Amanda Holden, which subsequently ended her marriage to Les Dennis.
In 2000, Neil and Amanda were spotted being amorous together. At the time, she was married to the much older Les Dennis. Les was extremely famous at the time, arguably more so than his wife. He hosted Family Fortunes, and was the face of primetime TV.
Neil Morrissey and Amanda embarked on their high-profile affair while they worked together on the BBC show Happy Birthday Shakespeare.
Although Amanda Holden and Les Dennis attempted to recover their marriage after the infidelity hit the headlines, they ultimately divorced in 2003.
Les has subsequently described the marriage as a “charade”. Meanwhile, Amanda – who was 23 when she married the then-40-year-old Dennis in 1995 – said she struggled with the responses from the public after news of the affair broke.
She told the Express: “I found the fall from grace incredibly hard to deal with. I can’t bear not to be liked.”
What has Neil Morrissey said about Amanda Holden?
Neil Morrissey has also addressed the embarrassing affair. While making a guest appearance on the Restless Natives podcast, hosted by Line of Duty star Martin Compston and broadcaster Gordon Smart, he offered three pieces of advice to the listeners.
He said: “Don’t piss into the wind, because you’ll always get your own back. And don’t [bleep] a game show host’s wife.”
His third nugget of wisdom for anyone else wondering? “A gentleman’s socks should always match his shoes.”
On a more serious note, Neil told the Guardian that he “hated” being seen as a love rat. Speaking in 2020, he said: “I hated the press making me out to be a womanising love rat. Maybe those relationships would have been different had they not been all over the papers… But, no matter what happened, the press shouldn’t have been hacking my phone or having private detectives follow me.
“I turned into a mistrusting, quieter, reticent person. You start looking at people around you, thinking, where is this information coming from? And who knows what effect it all had on producers who might have hired me. You take the papers to court and you get money, but you don’t get your life back.”
Is he related to David Morrissey?
Despite the same surname, Neil Morrissey is NOT related to fellow actor David Morrissey.
Although Neil has three siblings, David isn’t one of them! Sherwood actor David is from London, and also has three siblings – Tony Morrissey, comedian Paul Morrissey, and Karen Morrissey.
Neil and David have never starred together on screen as far as we know.
Was Neil in foster care?
Neil has spoken openly about his difficult childhood. He told the Guardian: “I was taken into care when I was 10. I’m the third of four boys and we were slightly feral, left to our own devices, getting into loads of trouble, burgling and vandalising stuff in Stafford.”
He added: “The court put me and my next oldest brother, Stephen, into care. My parents were a bit crap, there wasn’t that much of a bond going on. Eventually, I pretty much lost touch with my family. When Stephen was found dead, in 1997, it was awful, but I hadn’t seen him for a decade.”
His parents Larry and May, who lived in a mobile home in North Wales, were both Irish psychiatric nurses. He subsequently lost touch with them, and his dad died just months after his brother.
What happened to Neil Morrissey’s brother?
Neil Morrissey’s older brother Stephen died in 1997, following a drug overdose. Tragically, he lay dead in his Wolverhampton tower block bedsit for a week before he was found.
Police went to his rundown home on the third floor after neighbours complained of the smell. Officers broke down the front door and found the body of 37-year-old Stephen Morrissey.
Stephen had a history of drink and drugs abuse. A month before, he had been put on probation after a punch-up at a bowling alley. He had previously served four years in jail for stabbing his flatmate in a fight.
Brother Neil, who was 33 at the time, said he was “deeply saddened and upset”. Before he died, Stephen told the tabloids: “Neil knows I’m on the streets. He hasn’t offered any help and I haven’t asked him.”
Neil was among the mourners at Stephen’s funeral.
What are Neil Morrissey’s tattoos?
Neil Morrissey has a number of tattoos. Some of them he did reportedly himself with needles and Indian ink during his troubled childhood. On his left arm are his first name and what appears to be a blob – said blob was going to be his initials before it became infected, causing him to require a tetanus jab.
On his right arm is a squiggle which is a reversed version of The Saint logo. Morrissey says some of the tattoos were done by other boys at the children’s home he lived in. The boys there apparently saw that he did not have a tattoo and so gave him the option of a tattoo or a beating. He decided on the tattoo and now regrets not taking the other option.
Neil Morrissey and Amanda Holden: What is his net worth?
Actor Neil Morrissey’s reported net worth is around £5million. That’s not just from his acting career, he’s also invested in other businesses away from showbiz.
He now owns a chain of pubs in Staffordshire, including The Plume of Feathers in Barlaston, and The Old Bramshall Inn in Bramshall.
In August 2009, Neil was nearly declared bankrupt after owing £2.5million worth of debts after a property scheme he invested in collapsed. However, he refused to file for bankruptcy and paid off his creditors in full.
Speaking after the fact, Neil said: “My first pub business went bust. Things went wrong that I can’t talk about. I had about five years of austerity while I paid back hundreds of thousands to creditors, but I managed to keep my beer company alive and now I have two pubs and a fantastic business partner.
“Even when the first business failed, I wasn’t that downhearted. I thought, get back on the horse. Anyone can be positive about things. I’m a glass-half-full person.”
Neil Morrissey stars in Finders Keepers on Channel 5 at 9pm on Wednesdays.
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