Sue Perkins

I would have loved to have been science-minded enough to be in the caring profession - either as a doctor or nurse or vet.

If you fix your sense of self to your job, then you're heading for disaster.

I wanted to set 'Heading Out' in a real world, a concept I originally struggled with, as I don't have a proper job.

Performers only get to do their showing off because the public pay to see them. To deny your audience a photo, whatever the format, seems a little rude to me.

You're never going to persuade a meat-eater to become a vegetarian on taste grounds. They're completely different. One is a cleaner, fresher taste: it hasn't got that bass-note beefiness.

I'd never been one for leaving the comforts of home. That person wasn't me; I didn't spend my formative years youth-hostelling round Rwanda or climbing Everest in a tie-dye playsuit to raise awareness of something or other.

I usually like 'The Guardian' and its journalistic bent, but sometimes 'The Independent.' And if I'm being totally honest, some weekends I'll have a 'News of the Screws' or a 'Sunday Spurt.' You need high and lowbrow.

As an adult, the obsessive dynamics of self-employment meant it was impossible for me to take a break. What would happen if I disappeared for a week or two? I would be forgotten. Forever. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity would, doubtless, present itself - and I would miss the chance to seize it.

I've learnt how to develop routines. To play with each bit. To enjoy expanding on it. To get used to the stage being mine.

I hate recipes.

I'm known for being quite gobby, but also, I'm quite old fashioned in the sense that I like writing letters.

My mum has recorded all my programmes and not watched one. My dad says he finds it embarrassing.