Dennis Waterman admits punching ex-wife but insists she was 'not a beaten woman' Sandra Horley, Chief executive of Refuge, said: "I am appalled by Dennis Waterman's comments about his violence towards Rula Lenska, which trivialise the abuse he inflicted on her. No one can make their partner hit them. However angry or frustrated Dennis felt, he could have chosen to deal with those feelings another way but he chose violence. He alone is responsible for his behaviour. It doesn't matter whether he hit her once, twice or a dozen times - no man is entitled to hit his wife. At the time of their separation, Lenska, who starred in Coronation Street, said their relationship became a "violent, abusive pattern." There were times when he hit me. I became the object of his hate," she said. It got so bad that he became abusive to me and my daughter, and the last time it happened I had to run out of the house in tears. Waterman, who was being interviewed for Morgan's chat show Life Stories, tried to defend his actions, saying: "We were going through a horrible time and arguing a lot. The problem with strong, intelligent women is that they can argue, well. And if there is a time where you can't get a word in ... and I ... I lashed out. I couldn't end the argument. Something must have brought it on. When frustration builds up and you can't think of a way out ... It happened and I'm very, very ashamed of it. Describing the events, he admitted he might have "drunk too much" to remember details, and said: "I must have punched her one time "cause she did have a black eye. Afterwards, I felt utterly ashamed. Waterman, the son of an amateur boxer, added: "I'd never done it before or since. But if a woman is determined to put you down, and if you're not bright enough to do it with words, it can happen, and it did happen in my case. Waterman said he had found "proper happiness" after marrying his long-term partner Pam Flint, his fourth wife, last year. He also revealed that he lost his virginity aged 14 or 15 to a teacher at his school. The full interview can be seen on Piers Morgan's Life Stories which airs next month on ITV.