Denise Lewis wows at SPOTY Awards after breaking silence on divorce

Denise Lewis looked sensational in a lace dress at the Sports Personality Of The Year Awards on Thursday after breaking her silence on divorce from husband of 17 years.

The Olympian, 53, turned heads in a semi-sheer black lace midi dress which boasted long sleeves as she hit the red carpet in Media City, Manchester.  

Denise showed off her amazing figure in the number which she teamed with black heels as she posed at the star-studded awards. 

During the evening, Rory McIlroy capped off his incredible year after Masters win and Ryder Cup triumph to claim prestigious SPOTY award.

The appearance comes days after the athlete insisted she feels 'at peace' with herself after confirming her divorce from her music mogul husband Steve Finan.

Denise spoke for the first time about the breakdown of her 17-year marriage, which she confirmed in an Instagram post last month after the pair quietly separated two years ago.

Last year, The Mail on Sunday revealed Steve, who was the late Liam Payne's manager for seven years, moved out of the family home in Buckinghamshire where the couple lived with their three sons.

Denise has now admitted that lack of communication in a long term relationship is 'a massive problem,' but she is now firmly in her 'second act' of life.

'I think I feel like I've evolved, I feel at peace. It's not like I haven't got any more aspirations... I feel secure in myself.'

'I want to enjoy and celebrate me. It doesn't mean that I don't care about anybody else. I just know where I am in the queue and it's more towards the front than in the middle and at the back.'

Speaking to Ateh Jewel on HELLO!'s Second Act podcast, Denise spoke openly about her priorities in a marriage, insisting that 'communication is everything throughout and making sure that your values are aligned.'

She admitted that constant check ins are crucial espeically in longer term relationships and during major life shifts.

'When you are starting to change in the marriage, and not checking in with the other person about how they're changing as well, I think that can be a massive problem,' she said.

'And so I think people who have probably done a better job than me would say that it's the acceptance of certain behaviors, knowing where your non-negotiables are and being able to communicate.'

'I think if you haven't found that time or don't make that time to put your relationship back at the centre of everything, then it's hard. It's really hard.'

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'I think you've got to respect the individual for not only who they are, what they are, their values and and their growth and evolution. And I think if you lose sight of that, it's game over, isn't it?' 

Two years on from her split, Denise, who shares three sons with Steve - Ryan, 19, Kane, 16, and Troy, seven and daughter Lauryn, 22, with her ex Patrick Stevens - declared she feels 'more energized now than I have been over the last decade,'

'I'm more prepared to speak my mind as well, which I think is really good,' she reflected. 'I'm still curious and I'm still exploring the platform of life. And I think I'm energized. That's the difference. I'm more energized now than I have been over the last decade.'

'My relationships have to work both ways. Am I more forthright? Yeah. I guess I'm more prepared to speak my mind as well.'

Part of that seismic shift within was the confidence she felt to pose for her first ever lingerie shoot, stripping off for a stunning spread for Coco de Mer.

'I put those suspenders on for the first time in my life. I wanted to reframe what it means to be 50 plus,' Denise explained. 'I wanted to show that being sensual is still so much part of being a woman of a certain age, and that you should celebrate that.'

'You still have your own sex appeal for yourself, it's you controlling that. It speaks to who I am right now.'

She was so inspired by this new stage of life that she recently penned a self help book - Seven Lessons to Thrive In A World Of Competing Demands, admitting that during the past decade 'I've grown wings. I've expanded and I'm in a really good place.'

Denise won gold for Team GB in the heptathlon at the Olympic Games in Sydney, 2000.

Since retiring she has carried out punditry duty with the BBC, but recently quit after a decade in the chair following last summer's Olympic Games in Paris.