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We haven't seen much of you since The Big Breakfast...

I know, but that was always the plan. I mean, the Big Breakfast completely encompassed your life - very strange. The nearest I've got to describing it, is that it's like permanent jetlag. I was just knackered all the time. Going to bed at five, watching Countdown in bed, that kind of routine. But I really enjoyed it - the strange thing is how long it's taken to sink in that we had such a laugh doing it. We had a ball - great fun.

And now Linda Green... It's a very hard show to sum up...

Isn't it? I'd be interested to know how you'd describe it.

Well, a bit like Bridget Jones, only without the womens' magazine cliches?

I like that. I like that very much, and I think you're absolutely right. I really enjoy watching it because it's so smooth. The cast hit it off in a matter of minutes. But 'filthy' hit it off, if you know what I mean - one day they had to stop filming for an hour because we kept laughing at the word 'Ring'. You know 'Hmm, what a lovely ring.' [chuckles] It was like being nine again. Shockingly good fun.

She's a strangely likeable character.

Yes - I think Linda's warmer than she might have originally been. Which is there to explain why people put up with her, really.

And she gets a lot of bedroom action too...

I said to [writer] Paul Abbot, Jesus, you're going to leave her as some pox-riddled old witch by the end of it, aren't you?

Well in fairness, she's certainly very bold, borderline predatory.

I think it's very accurate in that respect. And whilst I'd like to assure you that I'm not as voracious as the lovely Linda, the fact of the matter is that she's normal. Yes, she is predatory to a point, but if you were to ask me what she's actually hoping to find, I couldn't tell you.

You get the sense that some women viewers might find her distasteful, in a "We're not like that" kind of way.

Yes, which is absolutely idiotic really. It's like Helen Fielding and Bridget Jones - she just wrote a damn good book, with no idea how much of a runaway success it would be, and suddenly people are accusing her of betraying feminism. You just think, 'Oh for God's sake, pull your head out of your arse'.

Are you aware some bloke's put a page on the Internet devoted entirely to Big Breakfast screengrabs where your nipples can be seen through your top?

[looks down at her chest] Oh they're always there - what can I do? Wear corn plasters? Oh good luck to him, I say, if that's his whim. There was a foot-fetishist after me for a while as well. That just made me laugh. It's nice to get the attention, really [laughs]

One could never accuse you of 'cultivating your own celebrity'.

There's a lot of that about, isn't there? I don't think it's very pleasant, either. It's like when someone's dying for a shag or something, there's that hunger about them. Which is so unattractive. And the public can tell - you can't go treating them like dick-heads, saying 'Look at my top, check out this smashing dress'. It's just dull, isn't it?

Links:

• Heat - http://www.emapmagazines.co.uk/