BASILDON star Denise Van Outen plans to marry her partner of seven years once lockdown ends.

The actress and presenter, 46, said city trader boyfriend Eddie Boxshall had not proposed but they had been discussing when to tie the knot.

The Dancing On Ice star told Hello! magazine her daughter Betsy was “desperate” for them to get married as soon as possible.

Van Outen shares the 10-year-old with musical theatre star Lee Mead, from Eastwood, who she was married to between 2009 and 2013.

She said: “After we’ve finished our podcast and this dreadful lockdown ends, there will be wedding bells. Betsy is desperate for us to get married; she tells us that all the time. We want to do it, too, surrounded by all our family and friends.”

Van Outen and Boxshall have also started seeing a counsellor to “iron out the niggles” ahead of the big day, and their discussions will feature in a new podcast, Before We Say I Do, which launches later in January.

She added: “There’s been no official proposal yet but we talk about getting married a lot.

“One day I commented that I never understood why a lot of people dive into marriage without ironing out their niggles first because the problems just creep up on them years later.

“That’s when we came up with this fun idea for a podcast series for myself and Eddie which would involve having counselling to sort out flaws that most people brush under the carpet before we venture into matrimony.

“Eddie and I have met different types of counsellors and had the discussions that most couples avoid. We’ve consulted a food therapist and a laughing counsellor and underwent hypnosis where we had to imagine we were each other and speak the truth.”

Van Outen is competing on the upcoming series of Dancing On Ice and told the magazine her professional partner, Matt Evers, had moved into their home to form a Covid-19 bubble.

Read the full interview in Hello! magazine, out now.