Latest news with #MyWeekly
Perth Now
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Sherrie Hewson refuses to go out without makeup on: 'I'd rather bury myself in the back garden...'
Sherrie Hewson refuses to go out without wearing makeup. The 74-year-old actress has been a mainstay on British television for decades but insisted that she would rather "bury [herself] in the back garden" than go out with a bare face. She told MyWeekly: "I would rather bury myself in my back garden than go outside without make-up on. I love to go full face glam and describe my style as a bit of everything." The former 'Benidorm' star added that one of her "pet hates" in life is being called old, and tries to take inspiration from her late mother when it comes to ageing. She said: "Being called a pensioner or senior citizen is one of my pet hates. It infers you're past it and that's rubbish. I don't want to be treated in a certain way because of my age. "My mum was 89 when she died. But up until near the end, she went out dancing every night, she sailed, she went on skiing holidays. She never thought, 'Oh, I'm a certain age so I mustn't do that any more!'" The former 'Coronation Street' actress thinks that it is "important" that others do the same, and insisted she will never let anything like age get in the way of what she really wants to do. She added: "I think it's important that we all stand up and say and do the same. We must stop being so timid and downtrodden. Get out there, do what you want! Go bungee-jumping if it's what you've always dreamed of! Don't ever let anyone stop you from being who you are."
The Courier
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Courier
Sue Lawrence on Glen Clova, her 'terrible' early novels and her 'great fondness for a Dundee pie'
Dundee-born writer Sue Lawrence has never forgotten her ties to the city and to the beautiful Angus Glens. Author Sue's parents moved from their native Dundee to Edinburgh when the chatty writer was a baby but she says that her family have always felt: 'A strong Dundee connection – a lot of my relatives are still there.' That link to the City of Discovery brought her back to Dundee to study French at university. Once she had graduated, her first writing job was as a journalist for DC Thomson publication My Weekly. Those ties have created a close affinity with the city and have made her a frequent visitor ever since. Now she is passing that connection on to another generation: 'We take the grandchildren on the train now. 'And just going over the bridge somehow makes my heart sing. Dundee is in such a beautiful place.' She has been delighted to see the redevelopment of the city's waterfront in recent years. 'I mean the V&A is just an astonishing building, it looks so striking,' she points out. 'You know, one of my novels – The Night He Left – was actually about the Tay Rail Bridge disaster.' The writer enthuses about spending time with family on the redeveloped shoreline. 'My sister lives in Arbroath so we met up with her and my cousin's grandchildren and went to the fantastic Dundee Science Centre. 'It was a lovely sunny day so then we went for a picnic on the urban beach. It was just great to have that facility right in the middle of the city where you can enjoy a picnic.' With three grown-up children and five grandchildren aged between eight and one, there are lots of family meet ups and celebrations to be had. She has always been a champion of Scottish produce and cooking. 'I still have a great fondness for a Dundee pie,' she laughs, 'and I know there is great baking there. My inspiration for so much of what's in my cookbooks came from my mum, and my granny and my aunties.' She is now the author of respected collections of Scottish recipes including New Scottish Baking and A Taste of Scotland's Islands. Sue's passion for food shines through in her fiction, which is sprinkled with foodie references. That might be the restrictions of rationing in war time Glen Clova or French characters skilled in the art of creating something wonderful from the simplest of ingredients. 'I do always seem to have a chef in my stories!' Unsurprising for the food writer, Sue says: 'I've always loved eating. I have really strong, vivid memories of cooking with my mother – licking the bowl of my mum's sultana cake when I was quite wee.' Then, moving to university, 'when you are a student you have to cook, you're sharing a flat with others and you get cooking. I just really enjoyed it.' Sue spent a year out in France, which saw her live and work in Lourdes in the Pyrenees. 'It was quite something,' she recalls. 'Quite a place to be and I learned more and more about how the French are just obsessed by food!' When she graduated, she went to work as a journalist and again loved to cook for her flatmates. Sue says that she entered BBC MasterChef, 'almost on a whim.' At the time she has three very small children, 'I thought it would be a bit fun to do,' she smiles. 'And that's obviously worked out very well for me.' She won the competition: 'It was broadcast on the Sunday in those days and on the Monday morning I had the editor of a national paper and a publisher on the phone.' They offered her a series of articles and a book deal because she was trained as a journalist. 'With small children, it was difficult to work from home in those days. But I was able to do it and that was the wonderful thing so I just took the ball and ran with it.' She published her 20th cookbook New Scottish Baking last summer and her first novel ten years ago. 'I'd been dabbling in it for about five years before that, so probably about 15 years ago the idea of writing fiction started. 'Initially they were terrible. I'm so glad they weren't published,' Her latest novel, Whispers in The Glen, is inspired by her paternal family's roots in the Angus Glens. Set in 1942, the storyline takes the reader into the lives of two sisters, Nell and Effie Anderson during the second world war. Whispers in The Glen also flashes back to the sisters' adolescent years during WW1 and delves into a tale of sisterhood and secrets. Sue borrowed names of family members for her characters, her father was Bob Anderson, her granny Nell and great aunt Effie. Bob loved to walk and climb in the Glens with his older brother Michael, who was also a keen mountaineer. 'Even after we moved to Edinburgh, it was still very much where the family went.' 'And in fact, my uncle Michael's ashes are scattered on top of Dreish. He was 99 when he died. 'We all had a lovely ceremony there and things like that are very special to all of us.' Readers who know the area will also spot familiar landmarks in the novel including The Glen Clova Hotel and the steep hike up to Loch Brandy. While researching Glen Clova during the wartime era for Whispers In The Glen, Sue came across a story about the crash site of a WW2 plane written by The Courier's own Gayle Ritchie. Sue thought: 'I wonder if I could bring this in. So I went up one day to see the crash site, just like Gayle did. 'It's definitely not an easy climb! But it's astonishing just being there and seeing it and I really wanted to bring that into the narrative.' Another real-life inspiration for Whispers in The Glen is the remarkable story of Glens postie Jean Cameron. Jean successfully campaigned for female postal workers to be allowed to wear trousers. Postal rounds were taken on by local women while their fathers, husbands and sons were called up to the armed forces. When Jean saw her uniform skirt, she pointed out that it wasn't practical for delivering mail in the Glens. She rode a bicycle to deliver letters and parcels and often had to climb over walls and even cross the River Esk as part of her round. 'So she said, 'I have to wear my own trousers, I just can't do it',' explains Sue. 'Because of her, all of the rural posties in Great Britain were issued uniform trousers that became known as Camerons.' Whispers in The Glen will hit the bookshelves on June 5. Sue is looking forward to a trip to Glen Clova on June 21, when she will be officially launching the book at Rottal Estate. The author will be reading from her novel and taking questions from the audience about her work at Rottal Steading.
The Advertiser
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Dame Judi Dench forever grateful for her acting career
Dame Judi Dench is eternally grateful for her acting career. The 90-year-old actress has been a fixture on both screen and stage since the 1950s but still feels fortunate to be in a profession that she loves. Dame Judi told My Weekly magazine: "I feel very lucky to be part of the two per cent of people who wanted to do something and were able to make a living at it. "I never cease to be grateful of the fact that I am able to do a job that I really love – I never got over that. ... the key to happiness is gratitude." Her ability to work has been limited by the macular degeneration that has badly affected her eyesight, although she remains "in love with life". The former James Bond actress said: "Be thankful for what you have, and you'll find abundance in every aspect of your life. I'm in love with life even though it is a beautiful mess – but that's what makes it so incredible." Dame Judi is widely seen as a national treasure in Britain but she jokingly sees the title in another way. She said: "It's dusty and dreary. It's like I've been picked up and put inside a little glass-fronted cabinet. Then they've locked the door so I can't get out." Dame Judi revealed earlier in 2025 that she lost her voice for two days after being scared by a close encounter with a snake when she starred in a 1987 production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The Oscar-winner, who was playing the female lead in the play, told the BBC Radio 4 documentary 'Roleplay': "One night, the boys taking me [carrying me] kept hissing. I was wondering what on earth was going on. "Then, back on stage at the very end of the play, the snake fell out of my wig as I did my bow. I was so scared I lost my voice for two days." Dame Judi Dench is eternally grateful for her acting career. The 90-year-old actress has been a fixture on both screen and stage since the 1950s but still feels fortunate to be in a profession that she loves. Dame Judi told My Weekly magazine: "I feel very lucky to be part of the two per cent of people who wanted to do something and were able to make a living at it. "I never cease to be grateful of the fact that I am able to do a job that I really love – I never got over that. ... the key to happiness is gratitude." Her ability to work has been limited by the macular degeneration that has badly affected her eyesight, although she remains "in love with life". The former James Bond actress said: "Be thankful for what you have, and you'll find abundance in every aspect of your life. I'm in love with life even though it is a beautiful mess – but that's what makes it so incredible." Dame Judi is widely seen as a national treasure in Britain but she jokingly sees the title in another way. She said: "It's dusty and dreary. It's like I've been picked up and put inside a little glass-fronted cabinet. Then they've locked the door so I can't get out." Dame Judi revealed earlier in 2025 that she lost her voice for two days after being scared by a close encounter with a snake when she starred in a 1987 production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The Oscar-winner, who was playing the female lead in the play, told the BBC Radio 4 documentary 'Roleplay': "One night, the boys taking me [carrying me] kept hissing. I was wondering what on earth was going on. "Then, back on stage at the very end of the play, the snake fell out of my wig as I did my bow. I was so scared I lost my voice for two days." Dame Judi Dench is eternally grateful for her acting career. The 90-year-old actress has been a fixture on both screen and stage since the 1950s but still feels fortunate to be in a profession that she loves. Dame Judi told My Weekly magazine: "I feel very lucky to be part of the two per cent of people who wanted to do something and were able to make a living at it. "I never cease to be grateful of the fact that I am able to do a job that I really love – I never got over that. ... the key to happiness is gratitude." Her ability to work has been limited by the macular degeneration that has badly affected her eyesight, although she remains "in love with life". The former James Bond actress said: "Be thankful for what you have, and you'll find abundance in every aspect of your life. I'm in love with life even though it is a beautiful mess – but that's what makes it so incredible." Dame Judi is widely seen as a national treasure in Britain but she jokingly sees the title in another way. She said: "It's dusty and dreary. It's like I've been picked up and put inside a little glass-fronted cabinet. Then they've locked the door so I can't get out." Dame Judi revealed earlier in 2025 that she lost her voice for two days after being scared by a close encounter with a snake when she starred in a 1987 production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The Oscar-winner, who was playing the female lead in the play, told the BBC Radio 4 documentary 'Roleplay': "One night, the boys taking me [carrying me] kept hissing. I was wondering what on earth was going on. "Then, back on stage at the very end of the play, the snake fell out of my wig as I did my bow. I was so scared I lost my voice for two days." Dame Judi Dench is eternally grateful for her acting career. The 90-year-old actress has been a fixture on both screen and stage since the 1950s but still feels fortunate to be in a profession that she loves. Dame Judi told My Weekly magazine: "I feel very lucky to be part of the two per cent of people who wanted to do something and were able to make a living at it. "I never cease to be grateful of the fact that I am able to do a job that I really love – I never got over that. ... the key to happiness is gratitude." Her ability to work has been limited by the macular degeneration that has badly affected her eyesight, although she remains "in love with life". The former James Bond actress said: "Be thankful for what you have, and you'll find abundance in every aspect of your life. I'm in love with life even though it is a beautiful mess – but that's what makes it so incredible." Dame Judi is widely seen as a national treasure in Britain but she jokingly sees the title in another way. She said: "It's dusty and dreary. It's like I've been picked up and put inside a little glass-fronted cabinet. Then they've locked the door so I can't get out." Dame Judi revealed earlier in 2025 that she lost her voice for two days after being scared by a close encounter with a snake when she starred in a 1987 production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The Oscar-winner, who was playing the female lead in the play, told the BBC Radio 4 documentary 'Roleplay': "One night, the boys taking me [carrying me] kept hissing. I was wondering what on earth was going on. "Then, back on stage at the very end of the play, the snake fell out of my wig as I did my bow. I was so scared I lost my voice for two days."
Perth Now
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Dame Judi Dench is forever grateful for her acting career
Dame Judi Dench is eternally grateful for her acting career. The 90-year-old actress has been a fixture on both screen and stage since the 1950s but still feels fortunate to be in a profession that she loves. Judi told My Weekly magazine: "I feel very lucky to be part of the two per cent of people who wanted to do something and were able to make a living at it. "I never cease to be grateful of the fact that I am able to do a job that I really love – I never got over that. I think the key to happiness is gratitude." Judi's ability to work has been limited by the macular degeneration that has badly affected her eyesight, although she remains "in love with life". The former James Bond actress said: "Be thankful for what you have, and you'll find abundance in every aspect of your life. I'm in love with life even though it is a beautiful mess – but that's what makes it so incredible." Judi is widely seen as a national treasure in Britain but she jokingly sees the title in another way. She said: "It's dusty and dreary. It's like I've been picked up and put inside a little glass-fronted cabinet. Then they've locked the door so I can't get out." Judi revealed earlier this year that she lost her voice for two days after being scared by a close encounter with a snake when she starred in a 1987 production of William Shakespeare's 'Antony and Cleopatra'. The Oscar-winner, who was playing the female lead in the play, told the BBC Radio 4 documentary 'Roleplay': "One night, the boys taking me [carrying me] kept hissing. I was wondering what on earth was going on. "Then, back on stage at the very end of the play, the snake fell out of my wig as I did my bow. I was so scared I lost my voice for two days." Meanwhile, Judi previously hit out at the increasing trend for trigger warnings being read out before stage plays and suggested that those of a sensitive disposition should stay away from the theatre. The 'Belfast' star said: "My God, it must be a pretty long trigger warning before 'King Lear' or 'Titus Andronicus'. "I can see why they exist, but if you're that sensitive, don't go to the theatre, because you could be very shocked. "Where is the surprise of seeing and understanding it in your own way?"
Edinburgh Live
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Joanna Lumley says she doesn't have 'all that time left' as she opens up
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Actress and comedian Joanna Lumley, 79, has shared her candid thoughts on ageing, revealing that her awareness of time passing only fuels her vitality. The esteemed star also confessed to frequently pondering her own mortality, stating in a My Weekly interview: "As you near the top of the hill you suddenly think, 'Gosh, there's not all that amount of time left'," and adding, "All kinds of my beloved friends are beginning to leave." This acute awareness of life's fleeting nature drives Joanna to make the most of her time on this planet. With her contagious enthusiasm, she remains active in the entertainment industry, recently impressing audiences in the BBC comedy series Amandaland and gracing Netflix drama Fool Me Once in 2024. READ MORE - Brooklyn Beckham's heartbreakingly 'sad' reason for feud with David and Victoria READ MORE - BBC's iconic snooker commentator's colourful past as house repossessed and addiction In addition, her new ITV travel series follows her epic 1,770-mile journey along the majestic River Danube. Despite her remarkable career, Joanna has long navigated the challenges of prosopagnosia, a condition hindering facial recognition, which she once disclosed to Vernon Kay on BBC 2: "I've got this weird thing with faces, I've got a face blindness," and further clarified on the Tracks of My Years podcast, "It's called prosopagnosia. "I have to know who people are, I have to know in advance. I always say, 'Please tell me who's going to be there', then I can match the name to the thing. I mean, lots of people say, 'Oh, but you meet so many people', it's not to do with that, it's completely different from that.", reports Surrey Live. "It's followed me and I never knew what it was. And I'd try a test. I'd look at somebody and then I would shut my eyes and see if I could see their face in my head. And I couldn't." The NHS describes prosopagnosia as an often more complex condition than simply not recognising faces – it can extend to difficulty discerning gender, age, and even recognising other objects like cars or animals. Sadly, no cure exists, but becoming attuned to unique attributes can help individuals cope with it. The NHS advises, "You'll still see the parts of a face normally, but all faces may look the same to you," adding that "It affects people differently. Some people may not be able to tell the difference between strangers or people they do not know well. Others may not recognise the faces of friends and family, or even their own face." Despite the challenges of prosopagnosia, Joanna hasn't let this define her. At 79, she has adorned our screens with her talent, marking an illustrious career with memorable roles across television series like The New Avengers and Sapphire and Steel to beloved shows such as Absolutely Fabulous, Finding Alice, and Motherland. In the 1960s, she was famously one of Ken Barlow's initial love interests in Coronation Street. She also had a stint on the silver screen, working with none other than Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street. Outside her acting career, Joanna is wed to Stephen Barlow, a conductor aged 70. She relishes a fulfilling family life as the doting mother of Jamie, who is 57, and a grandmother to Alice, 22, and Emily, 21.
