My father had his own business, a clothing store, which he inherited from his father. He travelled abroad frequently and was quite extravagant, so we had skiing holidays and summer holidays on the beach.

The idea of doing theatre always terrified me because I get terrible stage fright. In the early 1970s I was offered a panto but the thought of going on stage was just too mortifying.

I am as far from a hypochondriac as you could ever be.

As for the stage fright, it never goes away. When I'm waiting in the wings to go on, it's agony every single time but I stay focused and I know that once I'm on stage it'll be fine; I'll be in my happy little bubble.

I was brought up very conservatively. My father was positively Victorian - I wasn't even allowed to wear my hair down.

Generally, I'm a pretty positive, but like any other working person, if the jobs aren't coming in, I do get depressed.

I'm not scared of snakes, spiders or heights. I have three children; as a mum, you can't be afraid of things like that.