Denise Van Outen and Johnny Vaughan were the best of friends until a series of clashes and peculiar accusations.
They shot to fame in the 90s while presenting The Big Breakfast together, gaining huge numbers of viewers who tuned in for their on-screen banter and chemistry.
However, the pair had a major falling out during the height of their success over their differing salaries when they renegotiated contracts – with Denise quitting the show in 1998.
After a couple of years apart, they appeared to put their differences aside when they reunited on The Big Breakfast, which was recently announced to be returning for a one-off special next year, for the final two years it was originally on air.
And all thoughts of their row were gone when they delighted fans by teaming up once again on the Capital Radio Breakfast Show in 2008.
However, an old grievance reared its ugly head and their second reunion would end in more conflict.
Having presented on his own for four years, Denise joined Johnny as they looked to recreate some of their old TV magic on the airwaves.
But trouble was afoot when Denise walked out after six months and ended her contract early, citing other commitments in her heavy schedule.
Nothing more was said at the time, but years later Denise revealed the actual reason why she left.
She accused Johnny of 'sabotaging' her while on air, refusing to let her get a word in and never mentioning her name during the introduction of the show.
"Johnny didn't really welcome me with open arms, in fact he made me feel very uncomfortable," she told the Daily Mail in December 2012.
"He wouldn’t let me speak, would tell me when I should and shouldn’t speak and would also constantly not mention that we were joint presenters. It was always: 'This is Johnny Vaughan, you are listening to Capital Radio,' and there was no mention of my name.
"I was on the other side of the desk. He had control of the desk and when I would go to speak he would fade my microphone down."
When confronted with the serious allegations, Johnny denied that he controlled her sound levels and claimed she must have been pulling the interviewer's leg.
"It must be humour. There is this quote from her that I used to fade her down. She must be taking the p***, because anyone who has ever known me in radio knows that I can't operate any of the machines, Johnny told Digital Spy in March 2013.
"I couldn't even fade myself up, let alone fade her down. I don't think I've ever touched a fader. I don't know how to operate all these things."
According to Johnny, the problem was that Denise struggled with radio, but he confessed he hadn't been as "reassuring" as he could have been.
"She came to Capital, where I’d been for five or six years," he told The Mirror.
"She’d come from TV and theatre and wasn’t used to radio – it’s not a place where after the show everyone says, ‘Great show everybody’. It’s quite tough.
"Every day I do three hours, which I think are brilliant – then the house lights go up and you don’t see an audience. It can be a bit of a downer.
"Perhaps I wasn’t as reassuring as you can be. We did have a bit of a fallout, but I still love her to bits."
But Denise hit back at Johnny's claims and insisted he did have the technical capability with the studio equipment to turn her mic down.
"I don't know any DJ that wouldn't know where the fader is," she told Digital Spy later that month.
Since then the pair have not discussed the issue and, according to Denise, they didn't speak for the next seven years.
The pair actually came together on-screen by accident in 1997 when they stood in for the main presenters at the same time.
Their two-week stint together convinced bosses they had something special and led to the start of their partnership.
Some viewers were convinced they were in a real-life relationship due to their chemistry, but this was not the case.
Denise was seeing Jamiroquai lead singer Jay Kay and Johnny was in a 10-year relationship with costume designer Antonia Davies at the time.
"Everyone expected we had a little thing going on. But I think the reason we could take it so far and flirt so much on TV was because we were both in very secure relationships," said Denise.
Denise decided to leave the show in 1998 and began the start of her incredible acting career on the stage.
It was only many years later that Denise exposed their massive feud, which was over their salaries.
"I had a big fallout with Johnny Vaughan when we worked on The Big Breakfast. The whole relationship fell apart when we renegotiated our contracts," she told the Loose Women panel in 2017.
"I thought we were a team, we were the show together. There were other things involved, agents and stuff.
"Johnny was negotiating separately and I found out. For me it was tarnished. I knew our relationship would never be the same.
"That's why I left the show. Obviously I gave it another go, but the same thing happened again."
Johnny has never commented on their Big Breakfast salaries.
Denise and Johnny will not be back to present a revived special edition of the show which was recently announced will air next year.
Channel 4's Black Takeover day will kick off with comedian Mo Gilligan hosting The Big Breakfast, which bosses say will feature its "original anarchic spirit, distinctive energy and unique sense of humour" and will be "reimagined through an unashamedly Black British lens".
Denise came back for a second stint with Johnny in 2000, but too much had happened between them to go back to how they were before.
"We were proper mates. I laughed every day, we used to laugh to the point where I was going to wet myself," she explained on Natalie Pinkham's In The Pink Podcast In November last year.
"Then things happened and we’ve had fallouts along the way.
"There’s are couple of reasons why… when the show became successful and we were negotiating contracts I thought we were doing it as a team but his agent had other ideas and she got him more money and there were all those arguments that happens with bands and presenters.
"I wanted us to be a team and it became apparent we were not a team anymore and we never got back on track."
Denise was keen for it to be known that she does still "love him to bits".
The pair have not spoken about their disagreements since, but have shown open displays of affection towards each other on their Instagram pages.
Johnny posted a sweet snap of him and Denise smiling and holding hands as he reminisced about The Big Breakfast.
Then in 2018, Denise shared a lovely throwback photo of the pair hosting the show together back in the day with the caption tbt to the Big Breakfast 1998 with @johnny_vaughan66 #tbt.'
While Denise and Johnny's friendship may not be what it once was, they still share an incredible bond.
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