Actress Patsy Kensit: We live in a very chauvinistic world

Actress Patsy Kensit has said “we live in a very chauvinistic world” as she spoke about her frustrations over women being defined by past relationships.

The Emmerdale and Holby City star, 56, has been married four times – to Big Audio Dynamite keyboard player Dan Donovan, Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr, Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher and DJ Jeremy Healy.

Discussing her feelings on being associated with her ex-partners rather than her acting credits, she told Good Housekeeping UK: “It’s only frustrating because we live in a very chauvinistic world.

“I understand why people want to ask (about exes). I met Jane Asher once. She’s a very accomplished actress and what did I ask about? Her relationship with Paul McCartney when she was young. I was an idiot. You know, people think you’re made of Teflon.”

Kensit has a son, James, with musician Kerr, and son Lennon, 25, a model, with Oasis star Gallagher.

The actress said she feels she has “really conquered empty nest syndrome” now her children have grown up and she is looking towards the future.

“Of course, the minute I let the boys go, I couldn’t get rid of them,” she added.

“I have work to look forward to. I have these amazing, brilliant friends. Why would I not be happy?”

Among her close friends are Fall singer Brix Smith Start and actress and model Elizabeth Hurley, with the later being a godmother to Lennon alongside her friend Grainne.

She said her friends have helped her through periods of turbulence in her life, saying: “Years ago, the media caught a few moments of chaos and fragility in my life and created a character who’s very weak and a bit distressed.

“It couldn’t be further from the truth. My friends rallied round me during the past few years – they saved me. I love hanging out with them.”

Kensit began her career as a child star, appearing in films including The Great Gatsby and Gold in 1974.

She also sang with the pop group Eighth Wonder in the 1980s and appeared in Emmerdale as Sadie King and Holby City as Faye Morton.

Reflecting back on her life in the 1990s, she remembers it as a “golden time” where she had “really good fun”.

“I love rock ‘n’ roll, and I’ll always have a naughty streak in me, but I’m way too polite for that world,” she said.

“We all have an ego, but I’m a little more in control of mine. I get uncomfortable with people who feel they must command a room, who say things without caring about who they hurt.

“As I say, I was pathologically polite and the whole energy of that time was, ‘F*** you, I don’t care, I’m going to get off my head tonight’.”

The full interview can be read now in the April issue of Good Housekeeping.