'I've kept Dorien's costumes and handbags - I'll never get rid of them!'

Birds Of A Feather icon Lesley Joseph on playing a man-eater, going cruising with co-star Linda Robson and strutting her stuff as a nun

-  TONY COWELL

She won our hearts as man-eater Dorien Green on Birds Of A Feather, sparkled on the Strictly Come Dancing dance floor and dazzled audiences in the West End, so it’s hard to believe it when actress Lesley Joseph tells OK! she still has moments of self-doubt.

“The truth is, I have always suffered from insecurities, worrying about what people think of me,” confesses Lesley, 78. “That’s why I still never read reviews of myself.”

If she did cast her eye over the reviews, Lesley would soon see there’s no need to doubt how talented and beloved she is. Since hitting our screens as Dorien Green in 1989, she has become a national treasure. So it’s little wonder she isn’t ready to step out of the limelight just yet, despite the fact she’ll celebrate her 80th birthday next year.

“The older I get, the more frightened I become of forgetting my lines and making a fool of myself in front of an audience,” she admits. “I think I’ll know when the time is right for me to retire, but it’s not today. There are still so many things I want to do. My mother [Rebecca] died four weeks away from her 104th birthday, and I have her energy. I keep fit with exercise, but I also keep my brain very active through work, and that’s really important.”

Lesley’s fitness routine certainly works, because she can still slip into the tiny sequin dress she wore for one of her most famous Birds Of A Feather