Cilla Black

“I don't see why I should be a dame for just doing what I always wanted to do.”

“It's a business, and I'm a product. Terrible, isn't it?”

“I always believed I would be a star.”

“I give 150%. I'm a professional, a pro.”

“I love cookery programmes.”

“The best advice he gave me was to carry on. It would have been difficult to set foot back inside a TV studio if I hadn't carried on - I don't know if I would have ever gone back in.”

“I can do the PR thing until the cows come home. That's my nature. I never want to upset anybody.”

“I rarely stay in hotels because I have friends all over the world.”

“'Blind Date' was based on an Australian show called 'Perfect Match', which I first saw when I was on tour there. And I couldn't understand why it wasn't on British T.V.”

“But reality television is here to stay.”

“I was reading about an age pill that has been developed which they claim will make you live longer. That is not for me.”

“I intend to grow old very disgracefully.”

“Who wouldn't fancy Brian Epstein? He was tall and handsome and had money and class.”

“After Fergie and Prince Andrew honeymooned at Le Touessrok in Mauritius, Bobby, my late husband, and I were first to stay in their suite. We enjoyed the benefits - all the spoils and the special luxuries. We practically had our own private beach, and it was most romantic.”

“You see on 'Britain's Got Talent' and 'X Factor,' they all wear ear plugs. But I could not hear myself when I wore them. So that is where the strong voice came from.”

“If I'm in a rotten mood, I stay in and watch television.”

“It's hard to watch your life unfold, and sad. Life changes.”

“You couldn't give me any more confidence than when I was on T.V. because I was in control, but I wasn't in control in my private life.”

“In the Sixties, you needed talent to make it.”

“I cannot do business. I cannot sit and say, 'How are you, the weather's great, how's your golf?' I'm like a bull in a china shop.”