Denise van Outen teams up with Johnny Vaughan again

Denise Van Outen is planning to give Capital Radio DJ Johnny Vaughan a run for his money when she joins the station this month as his co-host.

I hear the Essex girl will receive a huge pay packet when she teams up with Johnny, who himself is paid £1million a year by the station to host his eponymous breakfast show.

"Denise was having final-stage negotiations with bosses at Capital just before Christmas," says a friend of the 33-year-old TV star.

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"They hunted her down and Denise has negotiated a six-figure deal. Her pay packet won't be far off Johnny's, which will really rile him.

"The station has coughed up, though, because it is desperate to claw back listeners and is convinced Johnny and Denise will do that."

Vaughan, 41, lost 400,000 listeners when he took over the breakfast show from Chris Tarrant, but Capital hopes Denise will boost listening figures.

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"It's a big move for the station," adds my source. "Johnny's the big cheese but he's going to have to pipe down a bit and give Denise some air space."

In the Nineties, the couple were one of the best-loved duos on TV on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast.

But when they were reunited in the BBC show Passport To Paradise in 2004, the series flopped.