I went freelance in 1996 and my children are now teenagers and it seemed right.

Of one thing there is no doubt: if Paris makes demands of the heart, then Munich makes demands of the stomach.

I love writing journalism because it's all over in two hours and comes straight off the top of the head. Writing novels is soooooo much harder. It's the hardest thing I've ever done.

Being blonde, for me, means never having to say: 'I'll have the honey-striped half-head of highlights for £200,' to a bored colourist in a Mayfair salon, which is much more satisfying, not to mention cheap.

Without my Johnson trademark mop of yellow hair, I think I would be nothing.

If you tell the truth you get into trouble, and that's why politicians are extremely dull.

I talk to bankers, distributors, marketing people. I used to sit at home in my tracksuit bottoms, and the real excitement of my day would be going out to get a copy of Private Eye and a latte.