samantha nixon
01-08-2007, 14:32
Found this on the Mirror website:
Holby star yearns to adopt
CELEBRITY THE HOLBY CITY STAR TALKS OF HER YEARNING TO ADOPT A GIRL BY KATE JACKSON
01/08/2007
The pitter-patter of tiny feet is playing a big role in the life of Holby City actress Amanda Mealing these days.
Her character, tough surgeon Connie Beauchamp, is adjusting to motherhood with baby Grace - and that's made the actress yearn for another child of her own.
"Acting with Connie's baby really did make me feel broody," she says. "Because her baby was premature, the babies we had on set are so tiny. They're so nice - it's that smell, and just having a little cuddle."
Sadly for the mum-of-two, though, having more children of her own is no longer an option after she underwent treatment for breast cancer five years ago.
But the star reveals she and husband Richard Sainsbury are considering adoption, to fill their Lincolnshire home.
"I'd like to adopt but it's such a difficult, slow process," she says. "I know they have to be very protective of the children but it's almost like a character assassination.
"I've always had the idea of adopting. We have a very big house, it's the sort of place that needs to be filled with lots of people."
There's also a chance she may follow in Angelina Jolie and Madonna's footsteps and adopt an African child.
"I would consider it," she says. "It's difficult when there are so many children here that need homes but, having said that, I went out to Kenya at Christmas and you see the poverty and just how needy they are for even the smallest things and you think, 'I could really make a difference to someone out here.'"
Amanda discovered the lump in her breast just 24 hours after giving birth to her second son, Otis, in 2002. She underwent a mastectomy, followed by six weeks of radiotherapy and seven months of chemotherapy.
Now, after five years of being clear, Amanda is desperate to enlarge her family.
And with a house full of boys, it's no wonder she wants a daughter.
"I would love a girl - it's very loud in my house," she says. "My boys will tell me: 'Mum, go and sit down because we're going to have a fight and it's going to get rough!'"
But giving birth to Grace on screen was an uncomfortable experience and it made Amanda grateful her sons - Milo, seven, and Otis, four - were born by caesarean section.
I FELT VERY VULNERABLE
"It was the most vulnerable thing I've ever done," she says. "I sat with my legs in stirrups in front of all these guys in the crew for about five hours. At the first rehearsal, I noticed all the men were wincing."
It was certainly a learning experience. "Because I've never gone through labour, I kept asking all the mothers there, 'Is this right?' And they would tell me 'It's this feeling or that feeling.'
"I was left thinking 'Oh my God I'm so glad I didn't have to do this,' We filmed it for five hours and that's a short labour.
"I have so much respect for women who have natural births. Like my friend, Davina McCall. She's had three children, with no pain relief. I'm in awe of her."
Amanda looks great for her years. In fact it's hard to believe she celebrated the big 4-0 in April with a romantic trip to Paris with her husband. And she doesn't miss being in her 30s.
"I feel fine," she smiles. "Things are different to when I was a kid and 40 was seen as old. People were middle-aged at 40. Now, some of my friends are 50 and they still go out clubbing. People are younger for longer."
In fact Amanda feels there are plenty of benefits to getting older. "I don't have to prove myself," she says. "Or if people ask me to prove myself, I tell them to '******* off'. You're comfortable with yourself and that breeds confidence - and that's sexy."
Her complexion is flawless but Amanda admits she wouldn't say no to a nip/tuck in the future. "If it makes you happy and it doesn't harm anyone else, then why not," she shrugs. "I don't know if I would, personally.
"I know there are people like the Bride of Wildenstein but then you've got other people such as Anne Robinson and Sharon Osbourne, and they look fantastic.
"If it comes to it and it all starts to sag then maybe I will."
Of course, if you listened to her best friend comedian Paul O'Grady, you'd think she has already had lots of work done.
"Paul wished me happy birthday on his show and said I was 78 and had loads of plastic surgery to make me look young! I'm going to get him back for that," she laughs.
I NEVER THOUGHT I'D WED
Amanda and Paul have been friends for 18 years. "He loves to moan," she says. "He'll ring me and complain about the food on the Orient Express, and I say, 'Shut up, you love going on the Orient Express.'
"When he had the first heart attack in 2002, I got really upset. In all the years we've known each other, that was the first time he'd seen me cry.
"After the second attack last year, I really laid into him. He was putting himself under so much stress."
Although she has been the "all clear" from cancer, Amanda admits she will never be able to put the condition out of her mind.
"I don't think it ever goes," she says. "I just did what I had to do and got on with it. You tough it out."
One person who was there for her throughout was Richard. They have been married for nine years, after they met through mutual friends - and kept bumping into each other over a six-year period.
"I never remembered him. Even if it was only two weeks later, I'd go up and say 'Hello I'm Amanda.' He was devastated, he was in love with me the whole time," she smiles.
"He told me he had this idea of the person who he was going to marry when he was 13, and she was basically me.
"I never thought I'd get married and if I did, I couldn't possibly live with them. But once we started seeing each other, we were inseparable.
"I moved in after two weeks and six or seven months later, we married."
But her career has always remained a crucial part of their life.
"We never had a honeymoon as I was filming The Lakes at the time and we had to swap scenes around," she explains. "They asked me if I was free the following day and I said, 'Well, no, I'm getting married.'
"So they gave me the wedding day and following day off and then I had to go back to work. For Richard, it was an introduction to the chaos of my life."
Amanda was just six when she started her career in showbiz as a dancer, before moving on to act in Grange Hill in 1980, playing Tracy Edwards.
Her sons are surrounded by showbiz legends.
On top of their dad being a screenwriter, their godfathers are Paul O'Grady and dramatist Alan Bleasdale, and they often join their mum at the Elstree studios in Hertfordshire, where Holby is filmed.
Otis is already showing signs of being a performer and has a very good singing voice, but Amanda is wary of letting her children get into the industry too soon.
"I don't think I'd let them start as young as I did," she says. "I'm glad I did it, I just loved dancing - but my husband comes from a very high-achieving academic family.
"If they want to make that choice as an adult, then I'd do anything to help them but I'd like them to get their education first.
"There are two sides to the industry - I had an amazing childhood because I was doing all those exciting things and I was successful. But the other side is that it's tough, you learn how nasty the world can be and how disappointing. You lose a certain innocence."
But it's not all bad. After all Amanda gets to kiss sexy Sam, for a living.
"Yeah, it's so tough my job," she giggles. "It's so hard, I have to snog him and everything. Not as often as I'd like though!"
Holby City is on Tuesdays, BBC1, 8pm.
Holby star yearns to adopt
CELEBRITY THE HOLBY CITY STAR TALKS OF HER YEARNING TO ADOPT A GIRL BY KATE JACKSON
01/08/2007
The pitter-patter of tiny feet is playing a big role in the life of Holby City actress Amanda Mealing these days.
Her character, tough surgeon Connie Beauchamp, is adjusting to motherhood with baby Grace - and that's made the actress yearn for another child of her own.
"Acting with Connie's baby really did make me feel broody," she says. "Because her baby was premature, the babies we had on set are so tiny. They're so nice - it's that smell, and just having a little cuddle."
Sadly for the mum-of-two, though, having more children of her own is no longer an option after she underwent treatment for breast cancer five years ago.
But the star reveals she and husband Richard Sainsbury are considering adoption, to fill their Lincolnshire home.
"I'd like to adopt but it's such a difficult, slow process," she says. "I know they have to be very protective of the children but it's almost like a character assassination.
"I've always had the idea of adopting. We have a very big house, it's the sort of place that needs to be filled with lots of people."
There's also a chance she may follow in Angelina Jolie and Madonna's footsteps and adopt an African child.
"I would consider it," she says. "It's difficult when there are so many children here that need homes but, having said that, I went out to Kenya at Christmas and you see the poverty and just how needy they are for even the smallest things and you think, 'I could really make a difference to someone out here.'"
Amanda discovered the lump in her breast just 24 hours after giving birth to her second son, Otis, in 2002. She underwent a mastectomy, followed by six weeks of radiotherapy and seven months of chemotherapy.
Now, after five years of being clear, Amanda is desperate to enlarge her family.
And with a house full of boys, it's no wonder she wants a daughter.
"I would love a girl - it's very loud in my house," she says. "My boys will tell me: 'Mum, go and sit down because we're going to have a fight and it's going to get rough!'"
But giving birth to Grace on screen was an uncomfortable experience and it made Amanda grateful her sons - Milo, seven, and Otis, four - were born by caesarean section.
I FELT VERY VULNERABLE
"It was the most vulnerable thing I've ever done," she says. "I sat with my legs in stirrups in front of all these guys in the crew for about five hours. At the first rehearsal, I noticed all the men were wincing."
It was certainly a learning experience. "Because I've never gone through labour, I kept asking all the mothers there, 'Is this right?' And they would tell me 'It's this feeling or that feeling.'
"I was left thinking 'Oh my God I'm so glad I didn't have to do this,' We filmed it for five hours and that's a short labour.
"I have so much respect for women who have natural births. Like my friend, Davina McCall. She's had three children, with no pain relief. I'm in awe of her."
Amanda looks great for her years. In fact it's hard to believe she celebrated the big 4-0 in April with a romantic trip to Paris with her husband. And she doesn't miss being in her 30s.
"I feel fine," she smiles. "Things are different to when I was a kid and 40 was seen as old. People were middle-aged at 40. Now, some of my friends are 50 and they still go out clubbing. People are younger for longer."
In fact Amanda feels there are plenty of benefits to getting older. "I don't have to prove myself," she says. "Or if people ask me to prove myself, I tell them to '******* off'. You're comfortable with yourself and that breeds confidence - and that's sexy."
Her complexion is flawless but Amanda admits she wouldn't say no to a nip/tuck in the future. "If it makes you happy and it doesn't harm anyone else, then why not," she shrugs. "I don't know if I would, personally.
"I know there are people like the Bride of Wildenstein but then you've got other people such as Anne Robinson and Sharon Osbourne, and they look fantastic.
"If it comes to it and it all starts to sag then maybe I will."
Of course, if you listened to her best friend comedian Paul O'Grady, you'd think she has already had lots of work done.
"Paul wished me happy birthday on his show and said I was 78 and had loads of plastic surgery to make me look young! I'm going to get him back for that," she laughs.
I NEVER THOUGHT I'D WED
Amanda and Paul have been friends for 18 years. "He loves to moan," she says. "He'll ring me and complain about the food on the Orient Express, and I say, 'Shut up, you love going on the Orient Express.'
"When he had the first heart attack in 2002, I got really upset. In all the years we've known each other, that was the first time he'd seen me cry.
"After the second attack last year, I really laid into him. He was putting himself under so much stress."
Although she has been the "all clear" from cancer, Amanda admits she will never be able to put the condition out of her mind.
"I don't think it ever goes," she says. "I just did what I had to do and got on with it. You tough it out."
One person who was there for her throughout was Richard. They have been married for nine years, after they met through mutual friends - and kept bumping into each other over a six-year period.
"I never remembered him. Even if it was only two weeks later, I'd go up and say 'Hello I'm Amanda.' He was devastated, he was in love with me the whole time," she smiles.
"He told me he had this idea of the person who he was going to marry when he was 13, and she was basically me.
"I never thought I'd get married and if I did, I couldn't possibly live with them. But once we started seeing each other, we were inseparable.
"I moved in after two weeks and six or seven months later, we married."
But her career has always remained a crucial part of their life.
"We never had a honeymoon as I was filming The Lakes at the time and we had to swap scenes around," she explains. "They asked me if I was free the following day and I said, 'Well, no, I'm getting married.'
"So they gave me the wedding day and following day off and then I had to go back to work. For Richard, it was an introduction to the chaos of my life."
Amanda was just six when she started her career in showbiz as a dancer, before moving on to act in Grange Hill in 1980, playing Tracy Edwards.
Her sons are surrounded by showbiz legends.
On top of their dad being a screenwriter, their godfathers are Paul O'Grady and dramatist Alan Bleasdale, and they often join their mum at the Elstree studios in Hertfordshire, where Holby is filmed.
Otis is already showing signs of being a performer and has a very good singing voice, but Amanda is wary of letting her children get into the industry too soon.
"I don't think I'd let them start as young as I did," she says. "I'm glad I did it, I just loved dancing - but my husband comes from a very high-achieving academic family.
"If they want to make that choice as an adult, then I'd do anything to help them but I'd like them to get their education first.
"There are two sides to the industry - I had an amazing childhood because I was doing all those exciting things and I was successful. But the other side is that it's tough, you learn how nasty the world can be and how disappointing. You lose a certain innocence."
But it's not all bad. After all Amanda gets to kiss sexy Sam, for a living.
"Yeah, it's so tough my job," she giggles. "It's so hard, I have to snog him and everything. Not as often as I'd like though!"
Holby City is on Tuesdays, BBC1, 8pm.