Tarrant's alleged lover: 'He's too old for me'

The actress said to be dating Chris Tarrant has ridiculed claims of an affair, saying he is much too old for her.

Debbie Arnold, 51, agreed she had spent the night at Tarrant's home after an awards ceremony.

But he had been doing her a favour because her own home was in the middle of renovations, with no heating or hot water, she claimed.

Miss Arnold said she was upset that Tarrant, 60, had not issued a statement denying any romance.

Instead, he had left it to her to set the record straight, she claimed.

Perhaps that is why she didn't spare his feelings, saying she did not find him attractive and preferred younger men.

In fact, she was rather specific, naming 40-year-old Kiefer Sutherland as much more to her taste.

Miss Arnold, who appeared as April Branning, Carol Jackson's sister, in EastEnders for a year, had a starring role in newspapers last weekend as Tarrant's new girlfriend.

The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host was thrown out by his wife after she discovered his seven-year affair with a teacher late last year. They are now divorced.

Tarrant and Miss Arnold were reported to have spent the night together after she joined him at an awards ceremony in London last week.

Pictures showing her leaving Tarrant's home in Surrey the next morning still wearing her party dress appeared to cement the view that they were an item. Since then, another woman has come forward claiming Tarrant was two-timing her with Miss Arnold.

But speaking for the first time last night, Miss Arnold put a rather different spin on their alleged night of passion.

"Chris is an old friend who I have known for years," she said.

"He invited me to this ball in London as a friend - it was the most bloody public place in the world. We had nothing to hide.

"The crazy thing is that I was sit two inches from David Beckham and I can't believe I ended up with more column inches than him.

"I am not a girlfriend. The clue to what really went on is here - you should look at my house. There are skips and there is building work - the place is a complete state.

"I have half a house at the moment. We had no heating and no water, because we are doing the house up. So I was staying there overnight. He was helping me out as a friend."

And it seems that Tarrant is not to Miss Arnold's tastes anyway.

"Chris is just too old for me - give me Kiefer Sutherland any day. I like younger men. I go young, I need a toyboy. If Kiefer arrives in the middle of the night, then there is a story.

"It would have been nice for Chris to come out and say there was nothing going on between us as well - but he hasn't. It has just been left to me."