Anita Dobson has reflected on the “ups and downs” of her career which included a period of time on benefits and “a tough change” post-marriage. Recalling the earlier stages of her career as a single woman, the 75-year-old reminisced about being able to say yes to more opportunities before her relatable life change.
“There’s been difficult times where you’re trying to marry your career with your life,” she shared in 2021. “Suddenly, you know, when you do get a life and then suddenly you still want to go out and do what you were doing, that’s really hard.
“When you’re on your own, you’re free. You can do whatever you want. The choice is that, then you can go, ‘yeah I will. I’ll go to Belgrade. I will. I’d love to do that play’.”
Navigating both her personal and professional realms proved challenging however, as she highlighted managing “the home fires burning,” reports the Express.
Speaking on the Keep Calm and Kerry On podcast, she shared: “Suddenly when you’ve got, you know, animals, a house, a husband, a life, a big life, it’s really tough. Somebody’s got to, you know, keep the home fires burning. And, you know, maybe in women still, I’m sorry to say it, but still, we are the ones, that really are the ones, that have to keep both going.
“For men, it’s a much simpler decision.” Anita and Brian have been hitched since 2000 after meeting in the 1980s.
While they don’t share any children together, the EastEnders star is a proud stepmother to the three children he shares with his first wife Chrissie Mullen. Anita previously expressed fears about marrying Brian and losing her independence.
In conversation with Woman and Home Magazine back in 2016, she divulged: “Even when I met Brian when I was in my mid-thirties, I didn’t actually see it on the cards for us. He was a huge rock star and our lives were very different.”
She went on to say that after getting through difficult times with the Queen legend, her perspective shifted. “So one day, I said to him, ‘I’m ready’. Two weeks later we were married. And doing it at 51? It was the best decision I’ve made.”
Catch Anita on Loose Women today at 12.30pm on ITV.