JUDI DENCH WHY THE THOUGHT OF DEATH SCARES ME

THIS year marks six glittering decades in showbusiness but instead of celebrating, a sombre

Dame Judi Dench admits it has only made her fear her own mortality.

“Not being around any more scares me. I don’t like that,” the 82-year-old tells the October issue of Good Housekeeping. “I suppose the actor Tim Pigott-Smith was a great mate of mine. And then, quite suddenly, you hear he is not there any more. That not only frightens me, but it also depresses the hell out of me. I think that’s just appalling. It’s no better if it’s preceded by somebody being very ill. All that is too frightening to contemplate.”

The Philomena star, who revealed five years ago that she was suffering from macular degeneration, also spoke about how she copes with the debilitating eye condition, which can lead to blindness, adding: “I’m just dealing with it. Getting on with it. Doing what I can do. I have to be careful if it’s too dark for me to see, I miss steps and things if I’m not told. I can’t read. I’m going to start listening to audio books.”

And having previously been married to late actor Michael Williams does the mum of one – who has been in a relationship with conservationist David Mills for seven years – ever expect to be walking down the aisle again?

“He’s not going to propose. No, no, no, no, no! Let’s all just pull ourselves together and be our age!”

Sounds to us like a case of over to you, David!