MY LIFE IN DRINKS

My favourite drink as a child was Ribena Light. My parents tell me I used to sit in my cot and shout ‘Bena, bena!’ with my arms stretched wide. I’d drink it out of a bottle instead of milk, which is really bad. I’ve still got a penchant for it now.

My first alcoholic drink was a sip of my dad Charles’s whisky at home. I was probably only six or seven. Whisky still holds a dear place in my heart [Natalie’s father died in 2021]. It’s not my drink of choice, but whenever I smell it, it reminds me of him. Especially Famous Grouse with ice, which was always his favourite.

My morning go-to is a lovely cup of English builder’s tea. Normal milk and no sugar is best. Sometimes I’ll try to have hot water with lemon and fresh ginger to be healthy. I can’t stand coffee first thing, it makes me feel sick.

On my first date with my fiancé Marc I drank a half pint of beer. It was 2014 and I’d driven us to the coast at Whitstable, so I could only have a cheeky half at the pub. He had a pint of ale. It was great fun and I knew very quickly it was meant to be.

My alcohol intake is much less than it used to be. Until a few years ago Marc and I would always share a bottle of wine while we cooked and ate. But since I’ve hit 40, there’s a distinct difference in how I feel the morning after drinking alcohol. That aside, I have to talk about the telly for mynewpodcastsoican’tbe nodding off. I’ll have one gin and tonic: my favourite is Monkey 47.

My most memorable drink was at Bora Bora Beach Club in Ibiza, aged 30. Iwaswithmy lovely nieces, Ellia and Maria. They’re more like my sisters because they’re only a few years younger. We were drinking straight vodka with ice on the beach and having the best time.

I had drinks with lots of famous faces at Elstree [the TV studios where Eastenders is filmed]. They recorded Top of the Pops there, and I remember meeting the Spice Girls, Oasis and Toploader in the early 2000s. I also met Steve Coogan at one of those swish BBC events at the Natural History Museum. Everyone was drinking champagne and I embarrassed myself by asking for a selfie with him.

The drink that makes me feel most stylish is a negroni: Campari, gin, vermouth and a twist of orange. My local boozer in Hertfordshire does the best barrel-aged ones. It actually sells takeaway negronis in tiny little Alice in Wonderland bottles with brown labels. I’ve been very good and so far resisted bringing any home.

I could fill this magazine with all the songs I sing when I’ve had a drink. My girlfriends and Isitaroundthe table shouting requests at

Alexa. We love ‘Foundations’ by Kate Nash or ‘Jambalaya’ by the Carpenters. We’re always dancing to that one.