From the age of 17 I was a pin-up girl. I did it for 30 years and, quite frankly, it gets a bit boring.

No, that's what I think God does to you. He gives you some great gig in which you make a whole heap of money, and you're just on top of the world and on every magazine cover, but your personal life is miserable. And for most of that time, I have to say, my personal life was pretty miserable.

I have the absolute utmost respect for soap opera actors now. They work harder than any actor I know in any other medium. And they don't get very much approbation for it.

Isn't three quarters of life a guilty pleasure?

I don't use e-mail; I phone and fax. I think people who are hunched over their computer screens all day should get a life.

I'm extremely happy in my life. I consider myself to be very blessed.

What is so weird is that young people who want to be 'celebrities' do not want to put in the hard work. They don't want to do the training, go to drama school, read Shakespeare, try different accents and study technique. They just want to be famous. It is not just in England; it's the same in America and all over Europe.