When people feel threatened by you, they find something that is belittling.

I think school is so important. I was good student. A rebel, but I did well in my studies. I don't close myself to anything. I liked reading and I still love learning. I loved history and German.

Mum had a job fitting upholstery into cars, but, in the evenings, she worked as a seamstress.

Before a long-haul flight, buy yourself a cheap, big, comfortable pillow. It makes a huge difference.

I started dancing before I could talk. Other babies learn to stand and then walk - I just danced.

I've done everything. I've sung, done records, plays... It just so happened my first professional job was as a dancer. I've done the whole shebang, darling. But dancing was my first professional engagement in 1974. I got paid for it, so that was it, my vocation. But my parents weren't keen. They wanted me to be an accountant in Italy. Or a lawyer. They were furious. I had to run away. I had to leave the country.

Dad was a bus driver, and when he finished work he would repair cars.