People think I'm thick because of the characters I play. I think I'm brighter than the characters. Well, I hope I am.

You can't converse with Alzheimer's sufferers in the way you do with others; the dialogue tends to go round in circles.

I've been going to Bamburgh for holidays since I was a child.

The more telly you do, the more it feels like a factory.

With your own children, you love them immediately - and with grandchildren, it's exactly the same.

From the time you are a tiny baby, a parent's love is usually unconditional. Whatever you do, your parents think you are the tops, but when their memory goes, you stop recouping the love you've put in.

Dementia is often regarded as an embarrassing condition that should be hushed up and not spoken about. But I feel passionately that more needs to be done to raise awareness, which is why I became an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society.