Steph’s Packed Lunch viewers were transported right back to the 90s on Tuesday after Denise Van Outen and Johnny Vaughan staged an on-screen reunion.
The former TV duo famously hosted The Big Breakfast together on and off between 1997 and 2001.
However, they then spent years not speaking after a fall-out over pay, but mended their friendship during the pandemic, which led to their presenting reunion.
Denise and Johnny proved the magic of their old TV partnership was still there as they stood in for regular Steph’s Packed Lunch presenter Steph McGovern while she took a day off from the Channel 4 magazine show.
They even poked fun at their previous row over pay in a First Dates-inspired sketch at the top of the show, where Denise remarked: “The only thing is he talked a lot about how he used to make more money than me, but that’s fine.”
Seeing the pair back together proved to be a nostalgia trip for many fans, with one even asking if Big Breakfast puppets Zig and Zag were set to make an appearance.
The pair were the best of friends when they presented The Big Breakfast back in the 90s.
However, things soured when Denise discovered Johnny was renegotiating his contract without telling her.
They were briefly reunited on short-lived BBC series Passport To Paradise in 2004 before hosting Capital FM’s breakfast show together in 2008, but Denise left after only six months.
Shedding light on their fallout, Denise told Loose Women in 2017: “It was mainly to do with pay.
“The view was that I did other things outside of presenting... that I already had another side to my career.
“At that particular time, we were literally like brother and sister, we were best friends, unbreakable.
“The whole relationship fell apart when we started to renegotiate our contracts because I always felt that we worked together as a team and that is how it should be.”
In 2021, the West End performer revealed that she and Johnny had put their bad blood behind them.
Speaking to The Mirror, she said: “Johnny and I have had a bit of a rocky relationship over the years for various reasons and, funnily enough, we’ve messaged a lot in lockdown.
“These situations make you reflect and realise some of the silly niggles and arguments you have are just not worth it.”
Steph’s Packed Lunch airs weekdays at 12pm on Channel 4.