Ashley Madekwe

When I first started working on 'Secret Diary,' I definitely felt like I needed to shape up. The idea of being in my knickers on TV was a great incentive! Now I try to eat right, and I go to Bikram yoga three or four times a week. I have my 'naughty' days, and I indulge in pizza and cake, but so what!

I always loved putting on shows - when you're the youngest of seven and five are older sisters, you've got to get noticed somehow! I did puppet shows and magic shows... even ventriloquism. My doll's name was 'Dan,' and I used to write these scripts, and my schoolmate hid under the table and supplied Dan's voice.

What I wish is that people would look beyond the tribbles and see I've written some other books that I really would like people to notice. There's 'The Man Who Folded Himself,' there's 'The Martian Child,' which is about my son and the adoption. There's 'The War Against The Chtorr,' which is my magnum opus, my great epic story.