Under the microscope

Actress Linda Robson, 55, answers our health quiz

HOW DO YOU KEEP FIT?

I DON’T usually have time to exercise because there’s no routine that fits into my job, especially when I’m touring with Birds Of A Feather. But I’m very active and I love walking.

WATCH YOUR WEIGHT?

YES. A couple of years ago I lost weight on the Lighter Life diet after Pauline [Quirke] did so well on it. I was a size 20 then and now I’m a 14, but it’s an ongoing battle — you have to try hard not to fall back into old habits.

GET YOUR FIVE A DAY?

I PROBABLY overdose on bananas, and I also eat plenty of salad and vegetables. When I’m at home it’s easy to eat healthy things. On tour it’s harder.

ANY VICES?

I ALWAYS want carbs, like potatoes and bread. A nice big granary loaf would be my desert island treat. Bread is my downfall — I come from a big Irish family and we all love it.

FAMILY AILMENTS?

MY DAD smoked and died from lung cancer at 57. Mum smoked but lived to 100 (she died last April). I took her to hypnotist Allen Carr and she stopped for a while, but then she got dementia and forgot she’d given up. She also had an overactive bladder and suffered urine infections, which was especially horrible for her with dementia.

POP ANY PILLS?

I’M ON HRT but have to come off it now because they don’t want you on it for more than five years. I’ve been trying to come off for a while, but when I stopped the hot flushes returned.

YOUR WORST ILLNESS?

TEN years ago I had gallstones when I was in two TV shows, Birds Of A Feather and Jobs For The Girls. I was in hospital so the shows had to stop. They zapped the gallstones but they should have removed my gallbladder because a couple of years later I got gallstones again and they went into my pancreas, causing pancreatitis. I was on a drip and in hospital for six weeks. Once I’d recovered, I had my gallbladder taken out. I’ve had a clean bill of health since.

ANY PHOBIAS?

IT USED to be rats, but I got hypnotised before I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here, which helped. I moved house because we got mice. I’d lived in that house for 13 years and loved it, but suddenly I hated it. We’ve got traps everywhere in our new house.

WHAT KEEPS YOU AWAKE?

I WORRY if I’ve got a first night of a tour or an interview the next day. I worry about everything.

EVER CONSIDER PLASTIC SURGERY?

I’VE had work on thread veins in my legs.

HANGOVER CURE?

I DON’T drink like I used to, but when I was younger I used to eat bread and butter with sugar sprinkled on top.

IS SEX IMPORTANT?

YES! I try to have weekends away with my husband, but it doesn’t happen often now we’ve got a granddaughter.

LIKE TO LIVE FOR EVER?

NO. WATCHING my mum fade away and the stress we went through means I wouldn’t want to live like that.