I like doing telly, but I’m not that fussed about it any more – I consider myself semi-retired.
As of January, I’m going to be spending a lot more time in San Diego, USA, because that’s where my plane, Mildred, is kept. I love flying and like to fly most days.
I don’t ever get scared of dying because I know I’d never do anything stupid to risk my life. I’m one level down from a commercial pilot and I also have a twin-engine plane, so if one engine goes, I can still fly.
I’m very happy in my life at the moment, and I think I’m having the most exciting time I’ve ever had. I know more about myself and I’m happily independent, which not many men can cope with. Being in my 50s has a lot to do with that. I’ve had a bit of a spring clean of people in my life too, so I’ve dropped anyone and everyone who causes me stress. You only have so much time in a day and if you have 100 people pulling bits off you, you don’t have anything left for yourself.
Getting divorced doesn’t mean the marriage was a bad one. I was married very happily [to Patrick King, father of her two children Cameron and Katie] for 12 years, and in the last year we weren’t happy and we got divorced. That was a very happy chapter in my life overall, and thinking about it like that, rather than the fact it ended, changes your attitude towards it.
Every time I go into the ladies’ loos, I get hit on by women. It happens a lot in America where they have no idea I am on the telly. I will be washing my hands and some woman will go: “Oh my God, can I touch your booty?” I cry laughing every time but I let them have a feel. I’m like: “Help yourself, love.” I won Rear of the Year twice and I have a laugh with it. My awards are in a display cabinet at home in Bristol, next to my red leather This Is Your Life book.
I haven’t weighed myself since 1999 when I was 38, so for half my adult life I haven’t been on any scales. It’s about how you feel in yourself. I work out – not to look a certain way, but because I like to feel healthy and fit. I find yoga really boring so I cycle, I go to the gym and I do circuits. I enjoy being in the open air, even in the rain, and I walk a lot. My diet is quite good, but it’s not perfect. I definitely allow myself more than the odd glass of wine…
I lost my mum in June, and the worst thing about it was knowing she was dying and not being able to make her better. That’s the hurtful thing. She had terminal cancer and she didn’t want any more treatment because she had already been through three bouts of cancer and suffered loads. When the end came, I just felt relieved she wasn’t in pain any more.
I’m still in touch with everyone from last year’s series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!. We are all in the same WhatsApp group, which Adam Thomas set up. The name of the group is Jungle Chat and the photo for the group is a plate of beans on toast with melted cheese. That’s because all you talk about in there is food!
I was the highest-paid woman on British TV at one point. I used to earn more than [presenter] Richard Whiteley on Countdown, so I can’t complain – though he used to. The gender pay gap is terrible. There’s no question that women should earn as much as men, if not more, if their value is more.
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