I came home after a year and although my profession was only hairdressing I knew I could change it.

I got a telegraph from my mother who said that my step-father had had a heart attack come home and earn a living. So I went back to England and the only thing I knew to earn any cash was through hairdressing.

At home it's all Batman and Star Wars and they do gang up on me. Sometimes I don't want to dress up as Darth Vader or play train sets so I'll go out for a drink with the girls.

The aesthetic came along the way I think - just through experimenting and going on tour and trying stuff out on stage having fun with it and not taking it too seriously. If I had a ballgown at home I'd wear it onstage. If I found something in a charity shop I'd wear it. That's where it grew from - just wanting to play dress-up.

I have a life that I enjoy I try and value the things that I think are worth valuing and everything else is icing. You know it is a kick to go down the red carpet in that dress and then you go back home.

With all the hundreds of dresses and shoes I have it would be an absolute crime if I don't have a little girl. I have a whole room at home filled with my stage wear.

If I go into a sandwich shop or anywhere that features 'Today's specials' on a chalkboard more than 10 feet away I have to ask for a printed menu. I smile at people I don't know on the street and ignore those I do. When at home I often find myself grabbing my 'back-up' glasses to search for the better-loved pair I have left on top of my dresser.

It's like kids playing house: 'You play the father I'll play the mother.' You know you dress up you play they pay you go home. It's a game - acting's a game.

My wife and I had decided not to let anybody take pictures of our home because it was just the last place on earth we had that was unscathed. But people have climbed over the fence they've taken aerial shots. They've gotten my address and put it on the Internet.

I have a dress-up chest at home. I love to create this fantasy kind of thing.