When you get knocked down, you got to get backup. Otherwise, you are going to lose.

There is nothing more boring than doing singing exercises.

Sometimes, thinking on your feet can be the most creative. Constrained circumstances can bring the best out of you. Some of the most successful shows come out of shoestring invention.

I grew up with my parents in the kitchen discussing the audition my dad had that day or moaning about something or other in the industry, so it was unglamourised and normalised for me from a very...

I think I thrive under pressure.

I have no idea what goes through people's heads when they first see me. 'Wow!' or 'Ugh!' More 'Wow!' I hope.

I'm just baffled in the 21st century we as human beings are still dropping bombs on each other as a means to resolve issues.

In order to make my solo shows as interesting as possible, I moved songs onto very different instruments so that I was moving instruments quite a lot during the set.

I regard freedom of expression as the primary right without which one cannot have a proper functioning democracy.

My school, we affectionately nicknamed it Avonjail, but it was called Avondale, Avondale high school in Stockport. I left with no GCSEs above a D.

Although I never wanted Theresa May to be our Prime Minister, I had been prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt.

English writing tends to fall into two categories - the big, baggy epic novel or the fairly controlled, tidy novel. For a long time, I was a fan of the big, baggy novel, but there's definitely an...

I had a one-track mind when I was younger.

Sometimes I buy a fun cereal and let me tell you - the night before I go to bed a little bit excited.

I, for one, want to make sure we give every young person the chance to find the fuel for their confidence, something that will power their ambition.

I never feel proud of anything I do really.

I think most people accept that it is necessary to have some surveillance in a democratic society. I think most people accept that it's important to have limits and clear safeguards on that.

My goal is to be the best TV presenter, the best entertainer, the best singer. I still want to be the best dancer. I want to be the best at everything I do.

I haven't got the patience for small talk, although I once saw a woman standing on her own in the corner, and I realised it was Monica Lewinsky, and I had the nicest evening with her - she was...

I like living on the edge.

In the U.S., it is a crime to lie to a federal agent, and it's often this that sends people to jail over financial matters.

You can't control how things that you're involved with are received. But 'The Thick of It' wasn't intended as an instruction manual. Writers like hearing how bits of this stuff have got out into the...

Personally, I'd like us to have a few more women on the 'Today' programme.

My parents tolerated me reading comics because they knew I was also reading 'proper' books, too.

If one could be friendly with women, what a pleasure - the relationship so secret and private compared with relations with men. Why not write about it truthfully?

I am fairly rich. Money's very handy, let's face it.

I've achieved what every artist wants, which is that some of their work will outlive them.

My maternal grandmother had what might be described in a school report as a 'lively imagination.' She told us that she was a direct descendant of Sir Christopher Wren.

Like everyone, I am concerned about the Irish border and the Good Friday Agreement, but as a Kent MP I am also concerned to keep lorries flowing freely through the Port of Dover and the Channel...

It's worth knowing that there's very different sets of regulation for the print press and for broadcast media. They're different things, particularly during campaign periods.