‘I love being a GRANDMOTHER!'

Gavin & Stacey actor Alison Steadman talks about lockdown, her latest TV role and being a grandparent

- ROZ LEWIS

This year, one of our best-loved actors, Alison Steadman, is again raising awareness of the work of the end-of-life charity, Marie Curie. ‘They helped my mum enormously,’ explains Alison, from her home in London, shared with her partner, Michael Elwyn.

‘Many years ago, my mum was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which was in a very late stage. There was no cure, so she was in the last stage of her life. The Marie Curie hospice made it as good as it could be for her, and she lived for two years after her diagnosis.’

Now she herself is in her 70s, Alison reflects on her own health. ‘Well, first of all, I’m lucky to be here. And I’m touching wood again, but I am reasonably healthy. Someone once said to me, never moan about getting old because a lot of people don’t have that privilege, and it’s true. I feel lucky to be as well as I am at my age.

‘I love to go walking. My main thing is I eat well. I enjoy swimming, but I haven’t been for quite a long time. Occasionally I want to bend down for something and my body feels a bit creaky or a bit stiff. And I actually say to myself, imagine you’re 30, not 75. And you know, I find it much easier to pick something up if I do that!