When I had my cancer, the chemotherapy took my hair away. So then I decided I would just keep it short, and this is my signature now. The great thing about it is that I am a bit of a chameleon, so you can put a wig on me and I look totally different.
When I'm not doing the show, and the work has stopped, I walk into a restaurant and I'm shy; yet, when I'm in the show, when people come up with their phones and want to take my picture, I can handle it because it's almost like I'm wearing an armour.
I start the show, and the armour goes on, and the showman comes out. When the show is finished, that comes off, and I become soft centred again.
I love the alchemy of cooking, the theatre of it. It's creating something.
I love observing both vocally and by sight. So I take on a lot of those elements of people around me.
I remember at the age of, and I'll say this, 10 and a half, 11, I had a natural boy soprano.
I've done pretty well in my career, and I've watched colleagues who have spent most of the paychecks they receive on shoes and cars rather than bricks and mortar, and that's not me.
I do like silver. I love antiques. I collect Georgian glass at home. When you think about how fragile that it is and think about how long these things have lasted - some of it is 400 years old - I find the history of these things extraordinary.
If some people think it shows a feminine side to be in the theater, I've never felt that. And I'll openly say that an intelligent person who is a sensitive person will be and should be in touch with their inner female.
I become absolutely reclusive when I'm not working, to the point where I question whether I can actually do it again.
What I don't want is to be in the public's face all the time. I know there are people who will do anything and everything to be out there. That's not my agenda. I love doing what I do and doing it for a period of time and then stopping.
With food, you're the artist; you put the colour in it, you present it to the table and it has the ability to knock out the senses. It can look fabulous, be beautifully presented and smell great and taste good as well.
I'm not really an awards person. I've got a couple of gongs over my time, but I tend to be snubbed anyway for some reason.
