If all you're doing is making money, you have a luxurious but empty life.

I read, go for walks and I love to garden. My hands are such a mess. People think I should have movie star hands, but they're just gardening ones. Always slightly grubby and with a bit of dirt under the fingernails.

Of course, like any woman, I look in the mirror and think, 'Oh, wouldn't I look better with a bit of Botox?' But you've got to find comfort in your own skin. I've watched women stretch themselves year after year until their faces are no longer recognisable.

At 50 you're more confident, more comfortable in your skin and you don't put up with nonsense, especially from men.

Your roots, your family, your friends all become so much more important to you as you get older, especially if you are a wandering minstrel like me.

I think the joy of any soap opera is it is always there. You are allowed into this world for a little while and it's safe in that you are watching other people go through some troubles rather than yourself. It's there every night, and there is something special about that sort of terrestrial television experience for a mass audience.

If all you're doing is making money, you have a luxurious but empty life.