I wrote last week that I had suffered a nasty bout of depression and I would like to thank everyone who wished me well. The episode was short-lived, as I hoped it would be, and as I write this I’m enjoying a fantastic week in LA with my dad, Vin.

It’s been such a special week. Dad and I came out to Los Angeles to see my son Matt play with The 1975 at the Henry Fonda Theatre and also to see them appear on the Jimmy Kimmel Show.

It was truly amazing to see the band’s American fans screaming and going crazy and to get a taste of what life on the road is like for Matt and the boys. I surprised Matt and didn’t tell him grandpa was coming. So to see his face after the show was a picture.

I was absolutely knackered after the long flight but, of course, dad insisted that we join the boys at the after-show party and ended up being awake for 23 hours in all. I’m still recovering now.

It was dad’s 77th birthday on Monday so as he has never been to the USA before I took him to Universal Studios. We had such a brilliant time and it was so lovely for just the two of us to spend time together.

It’s something we very rarely get to do these days.

We went on roller coasters, had amazing ice-creams and it was a day both of us will never forget. I felt like a little girl again!

They say you should never meet your heroes because the chances are you will be disappointed.  Well we did and we weren’t!

The end of a perfect day was seeing dad’s face light up when he met Billy Connolly who was staying at our hotel.

We were having dinner with some Scottish friends, Sandra and Christine, who knew Billy so they brought him over and introduced us to him. He was funny, charming and told us about the documentary he was making on global attitudes to death of all things! He also told us how tired he was feeling as he has been through the mill recently. He’s beaten prostate cancer but has sadly been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

A close friend is also suffering from this cruel condition so I’m aware of how debilitating it can be.

However, they are both fighters and both have the love and support of good women so I think they’ll both be around for a long time to come.

I love escaping the not-so-great British winter

Since leaving my day job I seem to have turned into Judith Chalmers!

For those of you too young to remember, Judith presented Wish You Were Here for 100 years.

I will do almost anything to escape the British winter. My dad denies it, but I’m sure I was snatched from a royal cradle somewhere hot and taken to Whitley Bay!

Either that or I was a dormouse in a previous life. All I want to do come October is curl up in a box of straw and sleep until April or fly to the sun as much as possible.

I hate the dark mornings and dark nights. I hate the cold, the rain and the snow. Snowball fights are not fun in my opinion. They hurt.

I have timed this trip very well because I flew out over Halloween and therefore missed having to rake through my wardrobe to find a scraggy old wig, rip an old dress to shreds and cover my face in fake blood to attend a fancy dress party which I hate.

As an actress, it always feels like a busman’s holiday to me.

I remember as a child that Halloween came and went and we hardly noticed it. It wasn’t that much of a big deal.

We didn’t even have pumpkins in Newcastle. I don’t know why they didn’t make it up the A1, but I remember mum and I spending hours scooping out the inside of a turnip. It took forever!

This whole trick or treat thing is so American as, of course, it’s a massive celebration here.

Thousands of men in drag parade the streets in the most outrageous and amazing costumes.

Dad was gutted that he missed that here in the USA because he would have wanted to join in!

From left: TV writer Ian La Frenais, Matt and Vin
From left: TV writer Ian La Frenais, Matt and Vin

Bezzie of the Week

Dad and the writer Ian La Frenais have been friends for 60 years and went to school together in Whitley Bay. He is my godfather, has always been a part of my life and we’re all very proud of him in the North-east.

Ian and his writing partner Dick Clement have been responsible for some of the best comedies ever written.

My sister Debbie and I used to love watching the Likely Lads because Ian and Dick would use the names of friends and relatives in it.

Bob and girlfriend Thelma  would often be babysitting for Denise and Debbie. I also like to tell people how Richard Beckinsale’s girlfriend Denise in Porridge was named after me!

Ian has lived in Beverly Hills for nearly 40 years and although I have been to visit before dad never has. It was a night to remember when we watched my son Matt play, Ian and his wife Doris were beaming with pride.

Matt and the boys have a night off so we are all going for dinner to celebrate dad’s birthday at Ian’s beautiful home in the Hollywood hills. A little bit of Whitley Bay in sunny California.

Denise with some of the hotel crew in Los Angeles
Denise with some of the hotel crew in Los Angeles

Word to the wise...

If you are feeling quite good about yourself, you have lost a bit of weight, your hair is looking nice and you are rocking a pretty cool wardrobe... don’t go to LA!

These are the guys who serve me my breakfast every morning. Walking into the restaurant of my hotel is like walking onto the set of America’s Next Top Model!

Everybody is gorgeous. My friend Chris Geere is out here filming a pilot and there’s a character in it called Fat Shirley – she’s a size 14. Need I say more.