Britt Ekland

Generally, I'm a pretty positive, but like any other working person, if the jobs aren't coming in, I do get depressed.

I had a husband who, I'm convinced, was an undiagnosed manic depressive. He didn't treat me as if I had a brain - I was just this beautiful little doll he could show off.

I used to smoke cigarettes, ten a day, but gave up when I was 28. Now my vice is several cups of coffee a day, which isn't great if you're prone to weak bones as I am, as caffeine can leach calcium.

I've been doing Pilates since 1974, I lift weights, I power walk every day and I run backwards. That's sometimes a little hard when you're not on your home turf, because you've got to find a place where there are no bumps in the way - or people.

Think of your pension and start saving. Like my father, I have been a spendthrift, and I regret that.

Back then I was called Dumbo because of my ears. I was called Fatty, too. It was hurtful so I became like the class clown. I became the one who was kicked around.

I spend hours mowing the lawn in absolutely straight lines on my tractor. If it's not right, I do it again.

I would make a poor vegetarian because I adore meat.

I am as far from a hypochondriac as you could ever be.

I believe you need scientific proof that something works before you entrust your health to it.

As for the stage fright, it never goes away. When I'm waiting in the wings to go on, it's agony every single time but I stay focused and I know that once I'm on stage it'll be fine; I'll be in my happy little bubble.

I dieted all the time in the Sixties, but we had no idea what dieting meant - we thought it meant not eating anything.

The ideal man doesn't exist. A husband is easier to find.

I was so beautiful but I didn't realise it for years. I saw pictures of myself and even I was stunned.

I was never particularly wild, just very busy and often didn't think about what I was putting into my body. Today things are very different. I stopped smoking in my late 30s; I avoid wheat and gluten as this makes me feel bloated and sluggish; exercise regularly and bounce out of bed.

Little bitty bags are completely impractical - I like big slouchy bags because they have to be comfortable for my lovely wee Chihuahua Tequila, who comes everywhere with me. I'm devoted to him, now my kids have long since flown the nest.

I broke my ankle ten years ago so high heels are not an option unless I'm literally going door to door for a function.

I think I suffer from body dysmorphia - I don't see what other people see.

The idea of doing theatre always terrified me because I get terrible stage fright. In the early 1970s I was offered a panto but the thought of going on stage was just too mortifying.

I listen to my body, I give it things it wants and I eliminate things it doesn't want.

The worst thing in the world is to be tired.

I met Peter Sellers when I was 21 and we got married ten days later. He was not right mentally, but I hung in there for four years before I left.

I'd been a housewife and mother to our son Thomas Jefferson, and I was looking for a new career. So when my agent called and said a producer named Paul Elliott from E&B productions, the biggest panto company in the country at the time, wanted to meet me I agreed.

I don't sleep with happily married men.

I tried the Atkins diet in the Seventies when pregnant with my son, as I didn't want to pile on the pounds. Now, so long as I'm healthy, I don't care what my scales say.

I'm a light sleeper, but so long as I'm wearing earplugs, I sleep well.