My mum Mary was always a bright, confident and fiercely independent lady.

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.

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

With all the lines I have to learn for TV scripts, I don't think I have any problems with forgetfulness - that's brain exercise enough for me.

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

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.

I'm not interested in more money for the sake of it.