Amanda's a survivor.

Byline: Sue Carroll

AS a child Amanda Redman tipped a pot of boiling soup over herself. She was pronounced clinically dead and the accident left her so scarred she spent five years undergoing skin grafts. Totally un-selfconscious about the marks which could have blighted her career she's become one of Britain's leading actresses.

Refreshingly free of the neurosese which plague a multitude of female celebrities, the New Tricks star smokes openly, enjoys a curry and the odd drink.

She hates the gym but goes reluctantly, says cosmetic surgery isn't an option and is a stranger to green tea and toxin-free diet regimes.

Now it transpires Amanda may have knocked a few years off her age.

So what? This isn't vanity but self-preservation in a business where professional women are judged by their birth certificate first and talent second.

I refer you to Arlene Phillips.