Mm

... because I do have my qualms about kids using it.

I hate it.

Uh, but for me, my daughter has Instagram now.

Obviously, she'll be 16 in September.

She didn't have a phone at all until she was in year eight of secondary school, which was very, very hard to do, a hard task.

Um, I think we're all addicted to our phones.

What, um, what is your most used meme, do you think?

Yeah.

I like talking to people.

So talking to the couple that run the brownie stall is lovely.

They're a young couple.

They're here, they're here for four days.

They're working really hard.

They're excited to be here.

Yeah

So that really amplified that relationship, that parent-daughter relationship.

Very, very much so.

And I was always a daddy's girl anyway, even when my mum was around.

So very, very strong relationship with my dad.

And I said to her, I loved caring for him.

The experience of that palliative time and taking someone out of the world is the most heartbreaking thing But also, it was the most beautiful thing.

And I was so honoured to be able to do it.

I mean, that must have been something that came up time and time again across the course of you learning how to care across all different parts of the caring community.

Yeah, yeah.

She used to live in a...

She had a kind of a bed sitting room, if you like, upstairs, her own room that she'd never come out of.

Just beautiful, lovely room, and the bathroom was next door and what have you.

But I used to go and sit with my Nanny Liz on the bed.

So for...

And I remember that really, that picture of Birds of a Feather, "While I do..." Do you remember it?

And what, and, and what about your w- in your work?

... and how they behave and how they react.

Yeah, I mean, that's a really interesting point as well, 'cause... [laughs] I hate saying this 'cause it, it put me out of work, but I, I, um, when people say, "Oh, when, when are you gonna act again?" Obviously I'm doing the panto, but since leaving EastEnders, I've not been there for 15 months now, and I do just really enjoy being myself, and I've done my doc- documentary's out at the moment, um, Caring Together.

Went back to school and I did a health and social care, you know, level three, and that was amazing because as you said, I love talking to people.

Mm

... because I do have my qualms about kids using it.

I hate it.

Uh, but for me, my daughter has Instagram now.

Obviously, she'll be 16 in September.

Amazing.

And loads of people from EastEnders.

Um, and I started going there when I was eight, and it was just the best place in the world.

Just the, this lady, Anna, you'd go in, you'd spend two hours in this room with all different ages, different races, whoever was in there, and you'd learn more in those two hours than you would learn in a week at school.

She was the most incredible woman.

It would be nothing like what you, what you grew up in.

No, not really.

Although there are certain traits.

Mm.

"Only when we went to the website for assembly instructions did we realize what we were actually putting together in our front yard was some kind of sex bondage cage."

[laughs] "Oh, number 14 have put their sex dungeon up again." Yeah.

"After a quick laugh, we scrambled to get the structure down, back into the bag, and into the garage.

Luckily, the neighbors who had the yard sale were moving, so we never had to see them again."

with you.

I know a lot of people that say they quite like the shock brief because they didn't know it was coming and hopefully that person wasn't in pain and, you know, it was just very quick.

For me, if I'm honest, and I really think about it often...

I think it was an age thing for me as well.

I knew we were both young.

But with my mum, I was 19 when she passed and that was a shock.

It was an aneurysm.

But I think if you're struggling to work, just remember that It's not your fault that you can't go at the same pace as everyone, you know?

Yeah.

Uh, my angel, I like to call her.

And Linda is in the series because I got some advice from her because she's a carer.

And when things were tough, you know, I learnt the term within my course of sandwich carers, and I had very small children, a full-time job, an elderly father, a house to run, family, you know, all of those things.

And that sandwich caring was tough, so when I was busy at EastEnders, I found Linda, and Linda used to come and help me with my dad so my mind wasn't worrying about what was going on at home.

And, uh, Linda was with me at the end of his life also, along with my brother.

Um, but yeah, she's a very important person to me.

Yeah.

Okay, so now let's move on to some questions, and the first one is from Catherine.

Hannah has the first question.

She's 35.

She says, "I've started taking electrolytes after workouts, but I'm not sure how often I should be using them.

Can you explain how electrolytes support muscles and whether there's such a thing as too much?"

I'm gonna be back on the sofa with Catherine very soon, and we'll also return with more bonus episodes of Dr. Nicola's Second Opinion throughout the series.

If you can't get enough Dr. Nicola in your life, she will be back with us very soon on the What's My Age Again? sofa as we reveal another celebrity's biological age.

Get in touch on the socials if you've got a question, and we'll answer them in a future episode of Dr. Nicola's Second Opinion.

Is it?

Definitely.

Uh, Mum, Dad, brothers, sister-in-laws, nieces, nephews, you know.

We're a very, very tight-knit family.

I'm very, very lucky, um, at how close we are and how grounded they keep me, the conversations we have.

Yeah, I just don't see myself as any different.

My brother's a builder.

[laughs]