Feisty, fun Lynda Bellingham is an inspiration

The actress is determined that her cancer is nothing but a blip.

I reckon the world is full of fountains and drains.

There are those people who make you feel that life is a joy and a song, and then there are the pessimists who suck the fun out of everything.

Lynda Bellingham is one of the most splendid of fountains.

She’s funny, naughty, highly intelligent and her outlook on life is to always “seize the day”.

That’s why I’m not surprised that she has handled the news she has cancer with grace, dignity and in a very no-nonsense way.

She probably wouldn’t have gone public with the fact that she is ill, but she was forced to pull out of performing the lead in the play A Passionate Woman, and felt she owed everyone an explanation.

Lynda hasn’t gone into any great detail about her cancer, only to say that she is having chemotherapy which won’t make her hair fall out and she hopes the treatment will be over by Christmas.

She is actually more upset about cancelling the play than battling the disease, which is very typical of Lynda.

She is the ultimate professional and will have hated letting down her fellow actors and her audience.

The producers have said they will postpone the play until she is better because no one can act the part like Lynda that will have given her a real boost.

I’ve interviewed her many times over the years and she is one of my favourites a real woman’s woman and the kind of person you could crack open a bottle of wine and enjoy a good belly laugh.

She has had an extraordinary life as an actress, comedienne, TV presenter and, of course, all those years of being the Oxo mum.

Lynda endured a volatile and violent second marriage, but is now with her third and, as she always says, her “final” husband Michael Pattemore. They married in 2008 it’s a real love match between two 60-somethings who are proper soulmates.

Lynda is a real grafter and, although she won’t be appearing on stage, she is busy writing her second novel while she undergoes cancer treatment.

She is determined that this is nothing more than a blip and she will come through it.

I really hope she is back to her feisty, fun-loving self as soon as possible and I know you will join me in sending Lynda love and best wishes and a very heartfelt “get well soon”.