Eight things we learned about Kathy Burke on Woman’s Hour
Kathy Burke: Actor, comedian, theatre director and, for many, a national treasure. She’s now turned to presenting with , a three-part Channel 4 series exploring our obsession with appearance, motherhood and relationships. She spoke to Woman’s Hour’s Jane Garvey about those subjects and much more. Here are eight things we learned...
1. She wants young women to know that ‘they are just beautiful’
Kathy says everyone has become obsessed with how other people look, especially how women look. “Ten or fifteen years ago, nobody would have dared tell me that I’m fat, but now people are very happy to tell me to my face. Never a doctor - just someone you’re sat having a chat with!”
“[Plastic surgeons] are making money out of people’s insecurities. Give people positive vibes and positive speak rather than putting them under the knife.”
2. She’s hasn’t eaten meat for 30 years
Kathy’s a vegetarian and has never eaten McDonalds or KFC, despite claiming she looks “like I’m constantly at the kebab shop”. She’s happy that there’s now more choice food wise when it comes to vegetarianism/veganism - but prefers it when people don’t just “chuck seeds in everything”.
3. Having a baby was never really her ‘heart’s desire’
Kathy admits she got “moody broody” in her late 20s and early 30s. “There was somebody that I knew who I thought, ‘Oh, I’d love to have a baby with him.’ But he had a girlfriend, so that was an impossibility.” She was later told by a doctor that she couldn’t have children due to a blood condition, but she does believe that if she really wanted a child when she was younger, she “would have had one”.
4. Her big brother John was her mother figure
Kathy’s mother died when she was just 18 months old so she has no memory of her being around. While she did have a foster mother, Joan, for a while and a godmother Nelly (both were “great”), it was actually her big brother John who was her “mother figure” and took care of her. Her elder brothers were just 10 and 8 when their mother died. “He cooked my dinners, took me to school, made sure I was washed and dressed. They weren’t given any guidance or care, this was in the sixties, he just got on with it.”
5. She champions the single life
“The idea of being single frightens people,” says Kathy, who thinks the majority of people are scared of being lonely and alone. “I’ve never felt loneliness. I’ve always been quite happy with my own company. It doesn’t mean I’m not social. I see my pals. But this week I don’t think I spoke to anyone for two days. It was just lovely. I feel like I’m constantly meditating.”
6. She joined Twitter because of the menopause
Jane Garvey called her “the uncrowned queen of profanity Twitter”, but Kathy only started to tweet because she was “getting really, really depressed” during the menopause. She says she didn’t want to work or go out – or do anything. Her blood condition called Hughes syndrome made it “extra nasty” for her.
7. She’s played two Royals
Best known for her comic characters such as Linda La Hughes in Gimme, Gimme, Gimme and starring alongside Harry Enfield as Kevin and Perry and Wayne and Waynetta Slob, Kathy has also played royalty twice. She was Queen Mary in the Oscar-winning film Elizabeth alongside Cate Blanchett and played the Queen Mum in PsychoBitches on TV.
8. She doesn’t miss acting
Kathy was a “reluctant movie star”. She won critical acclaim for her portrayal of an abused wife in Nil By Mouth, taking the Best Actress award at Cannes Film Festival. But she’s now a theatre director and says she much prefers to work behind the scenes, or on telly. “I don’t miss it, it was really getting on my nerves.”
Listen to Kathy’s full interview on Woman’s Hour. airs on Channel 4 on Tuesday 13 August at 22:00.
