Mathew Horne

“I wanted to be a prosthetic makeup artist after watching 'A Nightmare On Elm Street'.”

“There have been a lot of strong women who have had a huge influence on my career. I'm working with Imelda Staunton at the moment and she's definitely one of those women. And I would include Kathy Burke, Alison Steadman, Kylie Minogue and Catherine Tate as well.”

“No, I'm far too selfish to have a child. Also, I couldn't bear to have an ugly child. I'd have to be 100 per cent sure that the girl I had a child with was good-looking. You can never tell because you don't know what's going on while it's being fermented. You'd have to do a lot of research to check that they didn't have ugly genes.”

“I go to the gym four times a week and play football about twice a week. I'm pretty active.”

“I would go to Hollywood if something came in that I really wanted to do.”

“When I was about 24, I went to Reykjavik with Benedict Cumberbatch for a few days. We took a three-hour coach ride to a glacier and raced on snowmobiles at 60mph.”

“I am not really a fan of beaches or lying by swimming pools, and as I have quite sensitive skin, the sun is my enemy.”

“Jealousy isn't something I do. I am not a jealous person.”

“My first relationship at 15 made me really, really mature because it was so destructive and intense. We were inseparable for three years and I was completely and utterly besotted. But then it all fell apart and it took me a long time to get over it.”

“I won't leave the house without having a shower and, as much as it makes me a terrible anti-conservationist, I often have two a day.”

“I always plan what I'm going to wear, although I hope my clothes say that I look really good and I've not thought about it! Ironing is part of the preparation, so I don't mind it.”

“If I wake up after eight hours it's right; after nine I'm groggy.”

“I see clothes as an art form, and also a statement: no matter how vociferously people protest that they don't care what they wear, they sort of have to.”

“I find it ever so archaic, chanting, but I can see why people do it. I love seeing people getting all their frustrations out for the week.”

“I feel most relaxed when I am acting or writing.”

“I can't remember a Christmas where I didn't have a rotten cold, and I always get one about two weeks into a job. I definitely get man flu - I'm not brave at all.”

“I played in goal for Notts County juniors. I liked that sense that goalkeepers were outsiders, mavericks. But I stopped when I realised I wasn't going to grow any more. I'm 5ft 7ins so I couldn't have been a professional.”

“My upbringing was very basic working-class on the outskirts of Nottingham. My mother, Glenis, was a nursery nurse, looking after special-needs children, and my father, Brian, became the manager of a lace factory after working his way up as an apprentice.”

“A sketch show by its very nature is hit and miss.”

“I wore a dress as a child for six months and I wouldn't take it off. I was three. I've seen the pictures.”