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

When people speak their own language you get a much better sense of who they are.

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.

I love reading. I'm very much into history, novels, biographies and I have a wide range of thrillers.

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

I'm a sucker for turquoise sea, white beaches and palm trees. I've been to the tropics every year since I could afford it. It's the perfect place to unwind. I can chill out, read, do a bit of yoga.

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