Caroline Quentin admits she feels bad about working a lot while her children were growing up: ‘It left a hole in me’
Caroline Quentin has admitted she resents having to work a lot while her two children were growing up, saying it has ‘left a hole in her’.
The actress, 63, is mother to daughter Emily Rose and son William, whom she shares with her husband Sam Farmer.
She is best known for roles in shows such as Men Behaving Badly, Jonathan Creek and Kiss Me Kate.
Speaking to Good Housekeeping, the star said she “didn’t listen” to those who reminded her that her children are only little for a short time.
She said, ‘God, I missed them. I mourned them terribly when I was gone. I think that’s probably why I feel so bad about it, because it leaves a hole in me.
Caroline Quentin has admitted she feels bad about having to work a lot while her two children were growing up
The actress, 63, is mother to daughter Emily Rose and son William, who she shares with husband Sam Farmer (pictured with her daughter in September 2023)
“People said, ‘Oh, they’ve only been young for such a short time,’ and I didn’t listen; I thought I knew better, but I didn’t.
‘I should have said no to working and yes to them, but because I was the breadwinner I felt I had to do it. Well, I didn’t do that, did I? But you can’t turn back the clock; you have to live with these things.”
Caroline also opened up about her relationship with husband Sam, who she married in 2006.
The couple met on the set of Men Behaving Badly, where Caroline played outspoken nurse Dorothy and Sam worked as a runner.
She said, ‘You have to speak, speak, speak. I’ve been nagging Sam to do that since day one because I can’t stand sulking or being silent. With him it’s the other way around.
‘He has to tell me to be quiet and make an Instagram post instead of talking to him all day! But I feel very lucky because without him I wouldn’t have achieved half of what I have now.’
Caroline has recently become an author with her book Draw To The Garden about her experience of running a vegetable and flower garden at her home in Devon, which she documented on Instagram during the Covid lockdown.
When asked if she wanted to become an “influencer,” she said, “It kind of feels like that!” And why not? It’s great that, in my sixties, I’m suddenly doing something completely different.
Speaking to Good Housekeeping, the star said she “didn’t listen” to those who reminded her that her children are only little for a short time
Caroline said: ‘I should have said no to working and yes to them, but because I was the breadwinner I felt I had to do it. Well, I didn’t do that, did I? But you can’t turn back the clock; you have to live with these things’
Read the full interview in the April 2024 issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale now
“I’m amazed that what started as an Instagram account has grown into something much bigger.”
On why gardening has always been important to her, Caroline added: ‘Ever since I was little it’s been like a security blanket. My childhood was quite chaotic; my mother, who had bipolar disorder, often spent time in psychiatric hospitals.
‘When I was ten I was sent to a boarding school with these horrible, grumpy matrons and regimented baths and meals.
“I was a painfully shy child — I’m still shy beneath my loud personality — and I remember being so homesick and confused by everything in my life.
‘But going out into nature and seeing things grow felt like a time-out from the ‘real’ world. It was a chance to leave all the sadness and scary things behind.”
Read the full interview in the April 2024 issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale now.