I met Brenda Blethyn and was immediately struck by one thing

To say that I like Brenda Blethyn is like saying Princess Anne is fond of horses. I have been a huge fan of the star ever since her breakthrough role as Cynthia Purley in the 1996 film Secrets & Lies. Although she had been working solidly for over a fifteen years prior to this, she hadn't really come to my attention until then. She was rightly nominated for an Oscar for the part and won the Best Actress award at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA Award.

Ever since then I have followed her career and have loved absolutely everything she was in. The fact I write about showbusiness - which includes film and TV - means I can call it work rather than simply wearing my fandom on my sleeve. In 2025 I was extremely disappointed a schedule clash meant I missed meeting her at a film festival. So when I was invited to a screening of her new TV show, Channel 4's remake of A Woman of Substance, and was told she'd be in attendance I knew I had to go.

One red eye flight later and I was in the same room as the acclaimed star. I've met a lot of celebrities and many (not all but a significant amount) are disappointing in real life when they are not on stage or screen.

Not so Brenda who belied her 80 years, having celebrated the landmark birthday in February, and was completely bubbly and radiant. To everyone's delight she confessed she has no intention of slowing down.

"I love the job. I love working. I don't even think about 80 as being anything in particular. People say, what does it feel? Well, it just feels normal," she pondered as she chatted away heartily during a Q&A after we had watched the first episode.

If you didn't know how old she was you wouldn't believe it as she exudes and energy and vitality of someone with half her years.

As the event wound up and I queued to get my coat I spotted her also hovering in the area signing things for people and chatting and felt compelled to approach her.

There is always a danger that stars "in the wild" can be a bit snappy and rude but Brenda couldn't have been lovelier. She was completely radiant and happy to pose for photos. She even commandeered the director of the show to take them so we weren't struggling with selfies.

Even though lots of people were clamouring to talk to her she didn't rush and we chatted briefly about Barbara Taylor Bradford's books as the show is based on one of her novels.

She couldn't have been lovelier and was exactly like I had hoped she would be. Fingers crossed she sticks to her promise to keep working so we have many more years of Brenda on screens ahead of us.