Les Dennis had his late father in his thoughts as he celebrated turning 67 this week. The former Coronation Street actor said he was "blessed" to have an amazing family around him, but this birthday was a particularly poignant one – as his dad died when he was just 66.
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Les tweeted: "My last day of being 66 coming to an end. My dad was just 66 when he died. Mortality sinks in as we pass these milestones. These are weird times but I'm blessed to have an amazing family. Thank you lovely ones. 67 here I come."
The Family Fortunes host clearly struck a chord with his Twitter followers as he received almost 28,000 Likes for his tweet and a flurry of messages.
Les reflected on his father as he turned 67
One fan empathised, writing: "My mum was early 40s when she died... I dreaded reaching that age as (1) I knew how little life she had (2) scared for my own mortality but I figure they would be happy that we've made it right. Enjoy your birthday Les."
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Among the famous faces to wish Les a happy birthday were Reverend Richard Coles, Larry Lamb and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. The actor followed it up with another tweet: "Thank you all for your lovely Birthday messages. I'm overwhelmed by the love on here. Trolls are outnumbered by thoroughly decent people. As Lennon said 'Imagine all the people..'. Thank you all."
The actor shares two children with wife Claire Nicholson
Les is married to his third wife Claire Nicholson, with whom he shares a 12-year-old daughter Eleanor and a nine-year-old son Thomas. He also has an older son, Philip, from his first marriage to Lynne Webster.
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The TV star was married to his second wife Amanda Holden from 1995 to 2003. They split up briefly in 2000 after Amanda had an affair with Men Behaving Badly actor Neil Morrissey, but in 2001 they seemed determined to give things a second chance. In 2002, they confirmed the end of their seven-year marriage and officially divorced the following year.
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