Van Outen slams 'troubled stars'

Denise Van Outen has called for successful stars to be "bigged up" ahead of troubled celebrities.

The West End star believes former X Factor winner Leona Lewis should be celebrated for her success more than singers such as Amy Winehouse who has a history of drug problems.

She said: "I couldn't believe it when I opened the paper the other day and saw a massive picture of Amy Winehouse.

"What bothered me was that in the corner was a tiny story congratulating Leona Lewis for storming the US charts.

"If you ask me, we should be bigging her up, not people who are struggling with drugs.

"God, and to think I thought I was wild when I was younger. Now I hear stories and I'm like, 'I'd never do that!"'

Winehouse recently escaped charges over video footage of her apparently taking drugs.

The troubled singer was interviewed by police in east London last month.

Scotland Yard said the arrest was in connection with a video of the star passed to them by a newspaper in January in which the Rehab singer appears to be smoking crack cocaine, snorting ecstasy and cocaine and admitting to downing six Valium.

But no charges were brought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) because the footage itself did not establish whether the substances were, in fact, illegal drugs.

She has also been in and out of rehab over the past year.

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