Theatre: Hot Flush!

2:19pm Friday 2nd March 2007

RULA Lenska shot to fame as feisty pop star Q in the 1976 TV series Rock Follies. Since then she has appeared in an A to Z of hit TV shows including Boon, Robin of Sherwood, EastEnders and Minder, where she met Dennis Waterman - a meeting which resulted in a tempestuous 10-year marriage.

More recently, Rula was a housemate in 2005's explosive Celebrity Big Brother, notorious for a clash of egos including George Galloway, Michael Barrymore and Pete Burns.

When I chat to Rula she is hard at work rehearsing for Hot Flush! - a new musical about the menopause, which opens in Bromley next week.

She stars alongside Sheila Ferguson and Marti Webb.

"It's great fun, I'm having a ball," she says. "It's certainly unusual and it's outrageous. "Four women of a certain age form the Hot Flush Club," she explains. "The storyline follows their lives and friendships."

"I play a barrister whose husband has just pissed off with a younger, bustier blonde, as men do," she chuckles wryly.

"The music is fantastic and so are the lyrics, I'm absolutely loving it."

Rula's first big break was Rock Follies, the ground-breaking ITV series about an all-girl rock band - with a hit soundtrack by Roxy Music star Andy Mackay.

"We were the original Spice Girls," laughs Rula.

"It was an unbelievably exciting two years. I remember it very fondly."

Rula takes an avid interest in conservation and wildlife.

"I narrated a voice-over 25 years ago about Daphne Sheldrick, an extraordinary woman who runs an elephant orphanage outside Nairobi," she recalls. "She invited me to see it, and I fell madly in love with elephants.

"Since then I've been on amazing expeditions all over Africa, India and Nepal. I do what work I can and I've adopted two baby elephants.

Rula's love of wildlife meant she was disgusted to see Big Brother housemate Pete Burns wearing what was apparently a gorilla fur coat.

"I felt very strongly about Pete and that coat. I've hated myself for not being tougher against him, but I found him absolutely terrifying.

"Our show was a tough one, because there were some very powerful characters," she adds.

"It was pleasant at first but then the bullying started. George with his communistic leader attitude, Barrymore started getting flaky and Pete got more and more confrontational.

"Now I resent the fact I wasn't brave enough to defend people who were being bullied.

"I don't regret it. I earned a lot for my charities. I was able to hand a £20,000 cheque to Daphne for her elephant orphanange so it was worth every moment just for that."

Does she keep in touch with any former housemates?

"It's an unnatural situation in which to form real friendships.

"I did for a short time keep in touch with Preston and Maggot, but then Preston got married. I still occasionally hear from Maggot."

In May, Rula, who practices Buddhism, will be trekking through the foothills of the Himalayas to raise money for the Children's Society.

"It's a big physical challenge for me, I won't be taking my cigarettes," she laughs.

"If something comes along which is challenging and exciting, then I'm all for it and I'm happy. I'm a happy person."

• Hot Flush! March 9 to 17. Churchill Theatre, Bromley, box office 0870 060 6620.

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