Les Dennis' agent has denied he is "losing the plot" amid claims he is cracking under the pressure of being locked inside the Celebrity Big Brother house.

TV presenter and actor Dennis has appeared to be under strain during the nomination and eviction rounds on the Channel 4 reality show.

He seemed particularly upset when programme-makers raised the issue of the 17-year age gap between himself and his wife, actress Amanda Holden.

Fellow contestant Anne Diamond, who was evicted on Tuesday, warned after leaving the house: "I think he's going to be crying quite soon."

Diamond says Dennis has lost confidence

She said: "The last thing I whispered to him when I left was, 'keep in control', but he's somebody who likes to wear his heart on his sleeve and he likes being open.

"I do think he takes things to heart too much.

"He said he feels that the media can't let him and Amanda get past the problems they've had.

"I think he'll want to talk more about it. The stuffing's been knocked out of him and I don't think he'll ever get back to the word confident."

But Dennis' press agent, Pat Lake-Smith, denied he was "cracking up".

"Of course Les has not lost the plot, " said Pat.

"He has been put under the pressure of having to make the nominations but they are living this unnatural goldfish bowl existence where everything is exaggerated and they all seem to be having their moments.

"Les is naturally very caring and a genuinely lovely man. He is very animated and saying what he thinks which makes it all the more watchable."

The age gap with Amanda Holden has been discussed

Dennis, 49, appeared unhappy on Monday when he was given sole responsibility for nominating which contestant should be put to the public vote.

His mood seemed to worsen when Big Brother asked a quiz question about the age gap between himself and Holden, 31.

"Why bring up the age difference thing again?" he said angrily. "In case there's a paper in Britain which had forgotten or anyone in this country who didn't know?"

Earlier, Dennis had spoken to housemates about the press intrusion into his marriage after his wife's much-publicised affair with actor Neil Morrissey.

But Channel 4 said it had no fears for Dennis' state of mind.

"Big Brother shows sides of all the contestants that you wouldn't normally see," said a spokeswoman.

"We've seen a sensitive side to Les that you wouldn't get from watching him host Family Fortunes. But we're not worried about him at all. He's absolutely fine."