When I was 19 and at drama school, a couple of friends and I decided to drive from Guildford through France, down to the heel of Italy and then take a ferry to Greece - in an MG Midget. On our second day, in France, we were in a very bad accident and wrote off the car so we had to go home. But we then flew out instead and went island hopping.

For the millennium, we flew to Kuala Lumpur and then on to Pangkor Laut, a nearby island.

No-one has ever sung quite so beautifully as Karen Carpenter.

Ah, 'Kismet,' or Carry On Camel, as we called it. I thought the show was shocking. It was the worst designed production ever but it's got a fantastic score. It's not an awfully good book though. You really have to work hard to eke out any laughs from that script.

We're so stuck in our heads with social media that we don't get to meet people and go out to have a joint experience unless we go to a live event, like the theatre.

I don't have hobbies. Other than watching telly and walking my dogs, what I do is work. That's who I am.

I send a text every day to my partner Cath, saying 'I love you.'

What does annoy me is when critics use me to ridicule my audience. All the stuff about 'Tesco housewives' and 'the blue-rinse brigade.'

I've got soft features, curly hair with blonde bits and dimples. People think of me as a singer, an entertainer, someone who's always there with a ready smile.

I have a family who are desperately not interested in sharing their life with the world.

If you've got someone fighting your corner, someone who loves you and you love, and is also really, really clever, the battle is so much easier.

I particularly like Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. Both writers have wit and imagination and the breadth of stories they tell coupled with extraordinary artwork make for fascinating reading.

Tapping therapy is absolutely brilliant. Stephen Gately from Boyzone, God rest his soul, told me about it. It's just a little tap that focuses the mind away from that wave of panic and adrenalin that shoots into your body.

I spent my 40th birthday on the stage of the Palladium in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.'

I love the idea of being on stage and people thinking they know who Michael Ball is, they've got an image and then not knowing and going: who's that? I mean, that's the best compliment ever.

I have my family life and I think it's important to be able to shut the door and keep the door shut, and that keeps you grounded. You stay in reality.

I had Steven Spielberg on my radio show.

I was very close to my grandmother, Agnes Parry. She was a typical matriarchal leader of the family and the community. People looked up to her and would always go to her for advice and help.

I got involved in the Surrey Country youth theatre which led me to go to drama school where I realised that this was going to have to be my career, and I was really lucky to get big breaks early on.

I love doing characters that surprise people and showing what I am, which is an actor, first and foremost.

I don't think you last very well in this business if you're trendy because trends come and go.

The one I really get on with is Princess Anne. Talk about calls a spade a shovel! And she's so clued-up. She's a patron of a number of charities. I've been involved in a couple and she's not just a name. She knows the research programmes that are going on. She really does her homework.

I love my fans and they follow me everywhere - I recognise a lot of faces.

I'd love to explore South America, but the security issues worry me.