ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS
Leading lady “Don’t be afraid of getting older, because life gets better,” says Dame Joanna Lumley as she chats to Nicole Wood about life on and off the screen
It’s a very busy, very close to deadline Tuesday morning and I’m sitting in my home office preparing to interview the living legend that is Dame Joanna Lumley. “Nicole, you’re probably wondering what’s happened here. As you can see, I’m a bit swollen after having a tooth removed yesterday,” she begins to explain. While absolutely nothing about Joanna’s glowing appearance would indicate a dental procedure, we laugh and joke about the situation, and her down to earth, gentle manner instantly eases my pre-interview, (and huge fan!) nerves. Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley DBE FRGS is a British actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, activist, and the voice behind the adverts of the British independent furniture retailer, Barker and Stonehouse. With many strings to her bow, there’s not much Joanna isn’t adored for. “There are lots of exciting projects I’m working on at the moment,” she tells me. “I’ve just finished a very exciting travel project which will be aired this year. It was a huge journey across the world looking at how spices came to Europe from far away islands in Indonesia. It led me to some of
MAR/APR23
the most remote places I’ve ever been to on earth - and that’s coming from somebody who’s been to Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan. We went across India, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Jordan - it was a huge journey. We finished just before Christmas and, in fact, we were actually fitting in Barker and Stonehouse ads in between my travels. “Amongst this, I’ve done another six episodes of Conversations From a Long Marriage with the great actor Roger Allam. It’s a great comedy series where we play a bickering married couple. I’m just about to start a huge Netflix series called Fool Me Once which we’re filming up in Manchester, but I can’t tell you too much about that at the moment as it’s under wraps. “I also love doing my Barker and Stonehouse advert sections. I have such fun with my friends (I do think of them like that now as I’ve been working with the brand for so long!). We gallop through the voiceovers and laugh at how hopeless I am at remembering the figures. We get into hysterics about it and I love them all. It’ll be thrilling to come to the launch of their new store in Gateshead and meet everyone, the team and their customers, in person. I can’t wait,” says Joanna. The North-East founded furniture retailer
is well underway with its plans to transform the former Snow + Rock site on Gibside Way into a state-of-the-art flagship Barker and Stonehouse store, bringing together the very best in sustainable design, striking architecture and inspiring home interiors. Investing more than £5m to double the size of its existing site, the new store combines 50,000 sq ft of impressive retail space across three floors. With plans for the grand opening to take place on Good Friday (7 April), fans of all things interiors should head down for a fun-filled day of Easter activities and a chance to meet, take selfies with, and chat to the Absolutely Fabulous star. “I can’t wait to get my hands on a few Barker and Stonehouse pieces,” she says, as she explains her love for interiors. “When it comes to my own decor, the truth is, you couldn’t fit another stick of furniture in this house, but I’ll always try and find a way. “I’m a shameless maximalist! My home is stuffed with things and I wouldn’t have it any other way. In lockdown I fell in love with a colour called Green Smoke and painted anything that didn’t move in it from cupboards to chairs to give them a fresh and new lease of life.” >>
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