HOW HAVE YOU FOUND DOING YOUR OWN HAIR AND MAKE-UP ON SET?
Last Tuesday, we had 11 Dingle scenes back to back, three of which were high emotion and of course, you're used to someone going, there's a tissue, and I'm there going, looking like Alice Cooper, with half a lash coming off.
But there's something really lovely, we're all really self-contained, and I think I speak for a lot of people; we are in these clumps together, we are all in charge of our own continuity.
They've simplified everything and I really hope that the audiences will have a sympathy with us that, if you know what, if my wig is a little bit higher when I go in the shop and then it cuts and I'm coming out of the shop and my wig's a bit lower, I apologise, I'm trying my best.
We get a photograph and then we can look at everything. But I've taught myself how to do Shellac, so that's my new lockdown skill, that I do Mandy's own nails as well. The only thing that I've struggled with is the loneliness in the dressing rooms. I'm used to all my having my girls, especially on studio days, so it's just me and Bruno Mars on my iPad, that's it. You need that noise when you're in a dressing room all by yourself getting ready.
HOW DOES MANDY FEEL ABOUT PAUL (REECE DINSDALE)?
I think the week we're up to, she's scared; she's scared of being hurt again, and she's scared of history repeating itself. But mainly she's so suffocated with her love for Vinnie [her teenage son played by Bradley Johnson] and feels she's losing him, and as you know, with the miscarriage story and the infertility, it's like he's come back.
She does love him, she's so scared that if she does even go for it a little bit, she will be hurt again, and she's petrified of that. So, I think she plays her cards close to her chest .
DO YOU THINK THEY MAKE A GOOD MATCH?
At the moment, I think they're like two peas in a pod, they've both got that underlying manipulation within them that's deep rooted. I think they've got a very passionate relationship, and it's the passion that comes through with them two, and that comes first, and we see that a lot. It's one of those, oh well it's just a mistake, move on and then true to Mandy's style, she just keeps making more mistakes.
MANDY IS SO UNLUCKY IN LOVE, ISN'T IT ABOUT TIME SHE HAD A HAPPY ENDING?
She's full of bravado, she's full of camp and fun, but where love is concerned, she is a bit of a doormat. Men walk all over her. She gives too much too quickly, but that goes with her bravado and her vulnerability. She just wants to be loved, and I think when people in life are like that, that's when they get stung and that's when they get burnt, and that's what we're portraying in this storyline.
YOU'VE CELEBRATED 30 YEARS IN SHOWBIZ. WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BEST MOMENT?
Getting a Bafta for Three Girls… for my mum. I always remember before mum passed, she said, "Well, don't you dare get a Bafta, now I'm gone". And I did! And also with Three Girls, I think it was what we did for the girls. We gave them a voice.
My biggest advice to any up and coming actor is don't always say yes. It's really good to say "no".
:: Emmerdale, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV at 7pm.
