You can't stop getting older; you just have to keep going and laugh a lot.
Anita Dobson
Everything in life is a double-edged sword.
You don't get everything in life. You make decisions and have to live by them. If you make the right decisions, at the time you have no regrets.
I don't love the fact that gravity is winning as I get older, but there's also a calmness that comes with it, which I'm secretly enjoying.
Radio means you can play parts that aren't based on your looks or your age. It's a lot of fun. You can do tremendous things - play more diverse characters - that you wouldn't get to do in theatre or TV.
I came from nothing.
I think when I started out, when I was very young, I wanted to be an actor and do the great epic tragedies.
I refused to describe myself as an actress until 'EastEnders' because, until then, I couldn't support myself without doing other jobs.
I love to chit-chat and used to be the first to arrive at a party and the last to leave.
I first got engaged when I was 19, but I just knew there was more of life out there for me. I called it off six weeks before the wedding. I felt terribly guilty because he was such a nice boy, and I was in love with him. But it was the wrong time.
My father was a dress cutter, and my mother was a tailoress, so I was brought up to appreciate a good frock.
I got extremely fit and slim on 'Strictly,' but I did find that, each week, a different part of my body hurt. It really makes you realise the hard work dancers have to put in and how fit they have to be.
I've been working in radio on and off for most of my career. There's a restfulness about it. It's more focused on the voice, so you don't have to worry about extraneous things like sound effects, as there's someone there to look after that.
'Silver Street' was a very happy time for me.
When I walked away from my role as Angie in 'Eastenders' all those years ago, it was a huge risk, but I always had this great desire to do so many things.
Every morning, I have a coffee to wake up my system, but I don't think you should eat just because it's a meal time, so I often won't have breakfast until late morning.
I can do glamour, but I can also play something like I did in the play 'Wild Justice,' where I was demented with grief and anger, and there was snot coming out of my nose, and my clothes were all over the place.
People were following me home in cars, singing outside my window at my flat. I couldn't go to pubs or supermarkets or walk down the street. It was bizarre, but that was my life.
In the days of 'EastEnders,' I couldn't go into a pub or supermarket, as people would recognise me and follow me home.
To be playing Joan Crawford is as good as it gets.
I'm up at the crack of dawn. If I'm filming, then I'll wake at 5 A.M. so that I can get on set and made up before the cameras start rolling.
You learn to accept losing someone, but you never get over it.
To make a marriage work, you have to want to. If you want to stay with that person, you will. It's simple.
I knew of Queen, and I knew of Freddie, but I didn't know who the rest of the band were. I became friends with Freddie first; then I got to know the others.
If you're a good actor, you should be able to do soap, comedy, Shakespeare, musicals, pantomime, and something like 'Frozen.' Of course, you will be better at some things, but who says you can't do them all? The intent should always be to stretch yourself and broaden your horizons.
If I had to live on a desert island, and somebody gave me a chicken, there's no way I'd kill it - I'd call it Henry and make it my friend.
Going to drama school was the start of my journey of discovery and getting to know myself.
'EastEnders' changed everything. I was a jobbing actress living in Stepney, and I was on the dole at one point. Then people started to send me scripts, which was always my dream.
I have loved being a step-mum to Brian's children. We have a great relationship, and it's lovely to spend time with the grandchildren.
People are innately curious.
I am very glad I did 'EastEnders,' and I'm flattered that people still remember me in it.
I think you can do as much damage to yourself going to the gym and running as you do good. So my mission in life is just to keep myself 'good' - in good health, as fit as I can be, a little bit of stretching, and just think positive and enjoy life.
We learn by misfortune.
There's no secret it's hard work. Even though Brian's the love of my life, and he's absolutely adorable, it's not easy, and we have to work at it. But because we love each other and keep working at it, it pays off.
Brian and I have ups and downs like every marriage does. Although he's a legend, he's still, inside, an ordinary man, and I have got to remember that once we get inside the door, it's just us two.
I'd sue the bottom off my husband if he dared to put me in one of his films, and he knows that.
I'm very protective of friends and family.
Something devastating can happen to you, and it can have positive consequences. By the same token, something fantastic can happen, and it can bring a lot of trouble. That's life.
The reason I wanted to do 'Strictly' in the end is that you come out of it having learned something.
When I was a kid, I used to watch all those Sunday afternoon matinees featuring all the Hollywood greats.
People who are geniuses, once they get going, you really have to keep up.
The last place you'll find me is the gym. It seems to me to be a waste of time - I could spend that time doing so many other things.
I'm pretty fit. We've got a lot of stairs in our house, and I'm up and down them all the time. Plus, I don't smoke, and I'm vegetarian.
I thought that's where I would go: I would become a Shakespearian actor.
You turn down work you feel you've already done.
I went from being a jobbing actress who was just earning a living to being the second most photographed woman in Britain, next to Princess Diana - but it was exciting, too, and I wouldn't have swapped it for a second.
Wonderful things happened to me - I met my husband, I got invited to previews and premieres, I was asked to do fashion shoots and front covers of magazines. You've just got to embrace it and do the best you can.
For me, to be on television and not be afraid of making a mistake is freeing.
Usually, I'm asleep by midnight.
I was brought up in the East End, and if a man was inappropriate in a bar, you'd throw your drink over him.
