I'm a romantic and will only marry for love where there's respect and compatibility. I'd like to be with someone if the right person came along. I really like male company. I like the male mind.

I am simply not such a slave to my vanity, and I don't want to be, because as you get older you really have to start accepting the inevitable.

I think being raised by a single mother put me on the outside, and I would watch my mothers married friends and think, Why does she put him down in public? or, Why is he so rude to her? It seemed to me that there were very few marriages where the couple were genuinely in a supportive, loving partnership.

I grew up in a very political household. My mum used to shout at the television. At Mrs. Thatcher.

Whitley Bay was my first experience of the seaside. I'd buy my bucket and spade, and beach ball, and all the shops were teeming with toys. I used to spend hours on the shuggy boats.

I'm lucky to have very good genes. My mother was so tiny she was almost bird-like, and my father was tall and lean. Both lived until their early 80s.

Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, the higher your profile, the more castable you are in TV dramas.