INTERROGATION: Sarah Parish - 'Not having a baby terrifies me'

You've had a really busy few months recently. Sarah Parish: Yeah, I'm really chuffed. I finished doing a film called Something Borrowed with Debra Messing. It was my first film and I was so over-excited - like a kid in a candy shop. And as for Cutting It, well, that's really taken off. I think it's because the show has something for everyone.

Do you like playing Allie in Cutting It?

SP: Definitely. She's very vulnerable and real, and I love the fact she makes mistakes, just like everybody else. Sometimes she messes up big time and that's great to play.

You're great mates with Amanda Holden - do you miss her when you're not working together?

SP: Oh God yes, so much. We have such a blast together.

Are you ambitious?

SP: I think of myself as a laid-back person, but inwardly I probably am ambitious. You can bet your bottom dollar if I wasn't working for a few months, I'd be climbing the walls. But it's the work and not money that drives me. I'm not materialistic.

But you seem to have a reputation as a shopaholic...

SP: I bought a house at the end of last year, so I had to try to stop buying clothes. I've just done a photo shoot and normally I get my card out and buy something. Not this time. My greatest extravagance was a coat I bought last year from Dolce & Gabbana. I nearly died when I was told how much it cost. I could have bought a car for that.

If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?

SP: I'd like to have a nice feminine laugh rather than the great big Sid James laugh I've been blessed with.

What's the first thing people notice about you? SP: The loudness - and how blokey my laugh is.

What's your favourite memory?

SP: I have great memories of my birthday in Italy three years ago. Amanda Holden arranged it for me. All my friends were there. She sent me off for the day, and when I got back she had laid this huge table, there was a big birthday cake, lanterns in the swimming pool and in the trees, then as I walked around the corner, they pressed the button on the tape recorder and Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday blasted out. It was the nicest thing ever.

Do you watch soaps?

SP: No, I find them unchallenging and depressing. I like more edgy dramas - and give me Sex And The City any day. I'd like to think I was Carrie, but most of my friends would say I'm Samantha. Do you get on better with men or women? SP: With women. When I was younger, I'd have said men, but now, as I get older, it's women.

Would you like to marry and have kids? SP: Obviously in my dreams I'd love to meet somebody who I fall in love with, and have a baby. But if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. I'm not going to be one of those girls who go, 'Well I'm just going to have to stick with you then.' There's no point going for second-best.

So are you worried about your body clock ticking?

SP: Oh God yeah - and you people going on about it! But, again, I'm not going to have a kid just because I might run out of time. I want it to be the right circumstances. I think when you get to 35, you start thinking there's a possibility it might not happen. At first it's terrifying, the loneliness you feel is palpable - you can't breathe. But then, when you think about it more, you realise, 'Well, I've still got my health, I've got some great friends and everything will be OK.'

You have a baby in the new series of Cutting It. What research did you do for the birth scene?

SP: I was given library tapes to look at of women giving birth. There were about six births on one tape and all were very different. It's horrible watching the agony they go through. It didn't put me off though.

Is time a luxury to you?

SP: Hugely so. What people don't understand about this business is it's not just about filming. There's prep beforehand and afterwards. I can't remember the last time I had a day when I didn't have to do something to do with this job.

What would your perfect day be?

SP: A lie-in, followed by a full English breakfast. I'd get all the papers, put on a nice bit of Mozart, sit and have a cup of tea, and read the papers from back to front. Then I'd see friends, have a lovely slap-up lunch in a pub, get a bit merry, come home, watch a video, then bath and bed. Perfect!

Would you appear on Trinny and Susannah's What Not to Wear?

SP: No way. I saw them at the Baftas and asked, 'Do you like my frock?', and they said yes. I thought, thank God for that. But I definitely don't want to go on their show. I'd be terrified.

Have you ever behaved badly on holiday?

SP: Frequently - I can't remember the last time I behaved well on holiday actually. Anything I can reveal? Absolutely not.

Have you ever stolen anything?

SP: I was at a party once years ago, when I was at drama school. I was sitting on the toilet and there was a ring on the bath and I stole it. I don't know why I nicked it because it was really cheap and horrible. But I've felt terrible about it ever since.

Cutting It is on Tuesdays, BBC1, 9pm

SARAH'S REALITY CHECK

How does our Sarah cut it in the real world?

When did you last use public transport?

Yesterday. I got on the Tube.

Have you ever used the phrase 'Do you know I am?'

No way! (Laughs.)

Have you ever worn sunglasses indoors?

(Laughs even

louder) No!

You get the bill in a restaurant and notice they haven't charged you for drinks. Do you keep schtum or come clean?

I would keep schtum, but leave a bigger tip.

How much is a pint of milk?

Ooh, 56p. (Almost - around 40-50p)

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