Denise Van Outen finally ‘has her sparkle back’ since her split from Eddie Boxshall, her pal Duncan James has said.

The Blue star, 44, and actress, 48, have been close friends for years, with Duncan even replacing Eddie as her guest on Celebrity Gogglebox after the couple’s breakup.

Denise and Eddie ended their relationship in January this year after seven years together.

While both remained tight-lipped about the split at first, it was revealed that Eddie had been sending explicit texts to other women, which he later admitted.

Six months on, DJ Eddie is reportedly in the studio mixing a song about their break-up – and Denise has moved on with property developer Jimmy Barba.

Denise and Jimmy first went public with their relationship last month, and have been on red carpet dates, holidays to Marbella and concerts together, with Jimmy referring to her as his ‘love.’

Now musician Duncan has revealed how ‘happy’ his friend is – and how delighted he is for her.

Speaking to The Mirror, Duncan said he didn’t want to go too much into ‘her private life’ but added that ‘she’s really happy.’

‘And after the year that she’s had, she just deserves some happiness.’

He went on: ‘I’m just really happy for her and she’s got her smile back and her sparkle back.

‘It’s really lovely to see that.’

The star recently spoke to OK! Magazine where he talked about how ‘great’ it was to join Denise for Celebrity Gogglebox, joking that his teenage daughter was far more impressed by that than his boyband career.

‘I get to go to Denise’s house and sit on that famous sofa. Den and I get on so well, we have a good old catch-up.’

Their ‘banter’ and being able to catch-up while forgetting the cameras were actually there filming is what makes the programme ‘so authentic,’ Duncan added.

Meanwhile, Denise has happily been sharing loving updates on social media about her new relationship with Jimmy.

Last week the pair joined the thousands-strong crowd in London’s Brixton Academy to watch EDM legends The Prodigy.

One sweet photo uploaded to Instagram saw Denise and Jimmy cuddled up together at the gig, with her arm draped around his neck.

It’s the first time Denise has been linked to a new romance since her split with Eddie, who himself had been her only relationship since her divorce from Lee Mead.

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