OVERCOMING LOVE SPLIT AND FINANCIAL DISASTER PATSY KENSIT ON FINDING PEACE AND TAKING STRENGTH FROM HER SONS

Inside a West London studio, Patsy Kensit is ready for her close-up.

As she effortlessly strikes a series of poses during our exclusive photoshoot, the fragile beauty that helped make her famous is very much in evidence.

But as the 56-year-old chats to HELLO! in this honest and emotional interview, it's clear that there is nothing fragile about her personality.

Steely determination has seen her weather many storms, including a recent business disaster that resulted in the star losing all her money and her home.

Now single and eager to enjoy life as an empty nester, she wants to seize any new adventures that come her way.

SOLDIERING ON

"Right now, I feel content," Patsy tells us. "I think people mistake my politeness for weakness, but I am a trouper and very strong.

"There's been this portrayal of me that I'm delicate and always in tears, but that's not me. I am tougher than I look.

This is me at 56 and I think that's an empowering thing." Having worked since the age of four, the actress and model is used to having a job. But now, for the first time in many years, she is in between projects, although she hopes to return to her role-playing Emma Harding in EastEnders.

"I was in a serious relationship and at the same time had a part in a show I had wanted to work on for 20 years," she says, referring to her former fiancé, businessman Patric Cassidy, from whom she split earlier this year.

"Unfortunately, I was put in the position where I had to choose [between them]. I made that life choice and it didn't work out.

"Patric is a great guy, but our worlds are so different. I send him love and light, but every day I kick myself because I really enjoyed EastEnders.

"When you're on a show like that, it is your relationship. It's full-on, but I loved it, and leaving is one of my big regrets. I would love to go back."

MAKING IT ALONE