Which childhood dream has not yet come true?
Sadly, I have not yet won a gold medal for running in the Olympics! But my biggest dream was to write books, so I am not too disappointed about the medal.

 

What’s the best decision of your life?
Having children. Yes, it’s much more exhausting and far more time-consuming than you could ever imagine, but it is absolutely wonderful. Life without my son and daughter is unthinkable. I remember reading this once and it’s so true: ‘There are two things one never regrets - a baby and a swim’!!

 

What puts you in a bad mood?
Broken nights make me grumpy for days. Also, I’m the most impatient person in the world.

 

What puts you in a good mood?
Red wine, staying out too late and best quality chocolate.

 

Tea or Coffee?
Good grief, I’m British it’s tea of course. Weak Earl Grey with milk!

 

Classical music or pop/rock?
Both. Operatic arias make me blub (yes, even during the Mr Bean film), I put Mozart on the ipod when I’m trying to concentrate but I do love to dance, with all the moves (!), to very camp disco.

 

Cinema or DVD?
Both, I love films. But a night in with the Seinfeld or Father Ted box set is hard to beat.

 

Which product could you advertise?
Carrots. The perfect snack. I eat too many and my husband has been known to nickname me the horse.

 

Which book would you recommend to everybody?
Now this is very, very hard. The World According to Garp by John Irving is one of my all-time favourites. I also think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and The Giant Peach by Roald Dahl are works of genius. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott was my favourite book when I was young. (I was obsessed with that book!)