Samantha Giles first appeared on our screens as Emmerdale 's Bernice in 1998 and 25 years later, she has played the larger-than-life character through seemingly endless romantic disasters and comedy capers.
However, recent months have seen Bernice make a shift. The troubles with men and outrageous scrapes are still there – this week, we see her bed a handsome harpist who's later found dead in his bed! But a new story began as we saw Bernice struggle to face up to the menopause and cope with its symptoms.
The plot was welcomed by Sam, 51, and she has found herself becoming a voice for menopausal women up and down the country.
Just the night before our chat, the actress - who lives in Liverpool with husband Sean Pritchard and their daughters Eve, 14, and eight-year-old Olivia - tweeted about "horrible menopausal anxiety", signing off with "hormones suck!".
"I think it is important to be open about stuff like that," Sam tells us when we catch up, "because someone else might think, 'I was feeling like that, too'. Sometimes it just reminds you that, actually, you're not going mad, it's just hormones."
Here, the actress talks us through her own and Bernice's experiences, reveals her character's "over the top" new business venture and opens up about her tolerant family…
Hi, Samantha. What has the response been like to Bernice's menopause story?
At the beginning, it was a bit mixed as some people were wondering why they had given this story to a "comedy" character. But I think that's the point. This happens to everyone, even someone like Bernice. Just because she's a fun character, it doesn't mean that she won't be dealing with something like this and it won't be really debilitating.
We saw you tweet candidly about your own feelings only last night. What had happened?
I've been going to this dance class and I'm absolutely rubbish! But last night, it was really busy and I got very panicky and anxious because there were lots of new people there. I had a total crisis of confidence. It was awful. I came home, and this sounds so ridiculous, but I just cried. I said to my husband, "I'm so c**p. Everyone was judging me." But then I thought, "OK, this isn't normal, it's just a hormone thing."
Has your husband Sean been supportive?
He is really good. He has to be, as he lives in a house full of females! But seriously, he really is. My eldest daughter's 14, so she's dealing with hormones, too, so I think that we're all just quite tolerant as a family. And, obviously, if I'm going to take it out on anybody, then it's more likely to be my husband than the kids. He probably gets the brunt of it!
Bernice seems to be getting her confidence back again. This week, it's the reopening of the bed & breakfast. So has this new project been good for her?
Oh yes. It's made her feel useful and worthwhile, and given her a bit of confidence. I think all of that goes hand-in-hand with menopause, doesn't it? A lack of confidence and feeling as if you're worthless in life and that you've kind of come to the end of your useful years. I think this has helped her a lot. Plus, the HRT is helping. It's not a cure-all and, obviously, it's important for us to get across that HRT is not going to completely sort out all your symptoms, but it is going to help. So, things have calmed down a little bit for her.
We believe things aren't so calm at the B&B's grand opening, though…
They are really brilliant episodes. Really great comedy. Bernice does tend to go over the top. All the rooms they've named after well-known Yorkshire actors and celebrities, so there's the Dame Judi Dench suite and the Jane McDonald suite! Bernice has done the décor and her taste can be questionable. There's a lot of gold pineapples – it's really rather camp.
And Bernice ends up with a dead harpist on her hands?
In typical Bernice style, she ends up seducing this harpist and spends the night with him. Then it all goes a bit wrong! Meanwhile, Wendy overhears Bernice talking with Bob and gets the wrong end of the stick and thinks it's Bob that Bernice has slept with – so Bob ends up soaked with a bucket of water! I felt very sorry for Tony [Audenshaw, who plays Bob] as it was freezing that day.
You have published two of a planned trilogy of children's books in recent years. Do you enjoy writing?
Yes but the past six months I have been really slack because I've been so busy with Bernice. But today, I actually sat down and read through what I'd done for my next one. Writing is great as you have control with the plots and the characters, whereas when you're in a soap, you just do what you're told! I've also got my spell business ticking along [Sam practises Wicca, a modern form of pagan religion, and offers spells].
What else do you do when you're away from Emmerdale?
I like exercise and I do yoga at home. As a family, we like to go out for walks but my eldest isn't so keen now. We do love to travel, but I imagine this will be the last year my eldest will come on holiday. We might plump for somewhere like France, she likes French at school so hopefully she'll be keener as she can practise!
