FIRST IMPRESSIONS: EMILIA FOX
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working with the Good Housekeeping Institute, helping to make people aware that you can come and have instant access to experts at one of their new cookery classes.
When are you at your happiest?
With my little girl Rose doing very domestic things such as gardening and, hopefully now, a lot of cooking.
What is your greatest fear?
Any parent’s greatest fear is something happening to their children. On a completely different tangent, my greatest phobia has been spiders, but I’ve been trying to conquer that by going to Hounslow Urban Farm and handling tarantulas.
What is your earliest memory?
My fourth birthday party when I was given two canaries by my parents. They were called Samson and Delilah and they had the greatest love affair I have ever known. He used to sing to her constantly and she used to lay eggs and then sadly she died. He never sang again. We tried to find him a new wife but he was not happy with her and so he fell off his perch.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
That I’m quite OCD. And I haven’t learnt another language.
Who has been your greatest influence?
My daughter – it changes your whole life when you become a parent, your attitude to and your priorities in life. In my early life, though, my mum and dad – my mum for her commitment to family and my dad for being the best example of a gentleman there is.
What is your most treasured possession?
Family first, obviously, but then I would say I’ve got some beautiful roses in my garden. Inside the house, there are some collages of bits of Rose’s life that if there was a fire, I would be running in to save.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Bad manners. My grandmother brought us up on that old adage, ‘Manners maketh man’ and I think we had it drilled into us.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Ever since I was little – I’m sure it’s because I carried a cello from the age of four – I’ve had really muscly arms.
What is your favourite book?
Asylum by Patrick McGrath.
What is your favourite film?
Rebecca, the old black and white Hitchcock film.
Your favourite record or piece of music?
My cousin, Laurence Fox, is a singer and there’s a song called Gunfight, which I love, but I love all his songs.
What is your favourite meal?
Food is one of my favourite things so I could go on and on about my favourite meals, but yesterday I had white truffle risotto at home and that was just delicious.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Can I have dinner à deux with David Attenborough? And then I’d ask him to just tell me stories.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
I can’t think of something nasty, but I can think of something funny. When I was up for an audition in America I was told that I’d been described as a complete amphibian, and I was like, ‘What does that mean? I’m not a frog’, and that I could be long-haired, short-haired, blondehaired, brunette, red-haired, and I suddenly realised what they meant was that I could be a complete chameleon.
Do you believe in aliens?
No.
What is your secret vice?
Coffee.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Yes, I do.
What phrase do you most overuse?
‘I’ll do it tomorrow.’
Tell us one thing people might not know about you…
I’d like to start life again as a florist.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
I cherish the words ‘good’ and ‘love’ and ‘mother’ so if the person responsible for my epitaph could include those I’d be very, very grateful.
Emilia Fox is an ambassador for the Good Housekeeping Institute in London: www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/cookery-school
I’m working with the Good Housekeeping Institute, helping to make people aware that you can come and have instant access to experts at one of their new cookery classes.
When are you at your happiest?
With my little girl Rose doing very domestic things such as gardening and, hopefully now, a lot of cooking.
What is your greatest fear?
Any parent’s greatest fear is something happening to their children. On a completely different tangent, my greatest phobia has been spiders, but I’ve been trying to conquer that by going to Hounslow Urban Farm and handling tarantulas.
What is your earliest memory?
My fourth birthday party when I was given two canaries by my parents. They were called Samson and Delilah and they had the greatest love affair I have ever known. He used to sing to her constantly and she used to lay eggs and then sadly she died. He never sang again. We tried to find him a new wife but he was not happy with her and so he fell off his perch.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
That I’m quite OCD. And I haven’t learnt another language.
Who has been your greatest influence?
My daughter – it changes your whole life when you become a parent, your attitude to and your priorities in life. In my early life, though, my mum and dad – my mum for her commitment to family and my dad for being the best example of a gentleman there is.
What is your most treasured possession?
Family first, obviously, but then I would say I’ve got some beautiful roses in my garden. Inside the house, there are some collages of bits of Rose’s life that if there was a fire, I would be running in to save.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Bad manners. My grandmother brought us up on that old adage, ‘Manners maketh man’ and I think we had it drilled into us.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Ever since I was little – I’m sure it’s because I carried a cello from the age of four – I’ve had really muscly arms.
What is your favourite book?
Asylum by Patrick McGrath.
What is your favourite film?
Rebecca, the old black and white Hitchcock film.
Your favourite record or piece of music?
My cousin, Laurence Fox, is a singer and there’s a song called Gunfight, which I love, but I love all his songs.
What is your favourite meal?
Food is one of my favourite things so I could go on and on about my favourite meals, but yesterday I had white truffle risotto at home and that was just delicious.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Can I have dinner à deux with David Attenborough? And then I’d ask him to just tell me stories.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
I can’t think of something nasty, but I can think of something funny. When I was up for an audition in America I was told that I’d been described as a complete amphibian, and I was like, ‘What does that mean? I’m not a frog’, and that I could be long-haired, short-haired, blondehaired, brunette, red-haired, and I suddenly realised what they meant was that I could be a complete chameleon.
Do you believe in aliens?
No.
What is your secret vice?
Coffee.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Yes, I do.
What phrase do you most overuse?
‘I’ll do it tomorrow.’
Tell us one thing people might not know about you…
I’d like to start life again as a florist.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
I cherish the words ‘good’ and ‘love’ and ‘mother’ so if the person responsible for my epitaph could include those I’d be very, very grateful.
Emilia Fox is an ambassador for the Good Housekeeping Institute in London: www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/cookery-school