Loose Women favourite Linda Robson is a successful TV actress and personality from London, England and she will be starring in the latest series of Celebrity Coach Trip.
Aged 63, Linda has lived in London her whole life and has a career spanning decades, with her first credit being in 1970 after attending a prestigious acting school alongside the likes of Pauline Quirke and Martin Kemp.
She got her breakthrough when she starred in Birds of a Feather, and is now a household name thanks to her Loose Women stint, where she shares her opinions and sparks controversy on the panel and online.
She is married and shares three children with her husband whom she tied the knot with back in 1990 – but what else is there to know about this national icon?
From celebrity crushes, to a luxe London pad, wanting to take in migrants, and battling OCD – Daily Star takes a look inside Linda Robson’s life and times.
Early life and career
(Image: Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Linda was born in Islington in March 1958, and has remained in the borough ever since.
She attended Ecclesbourne Primary School, where Anna Scher started her Theatre School in 1968 with Linda and longtime pal and colleague Pauline Quirke being amongst the founding students.
Martin Kemp also attended the Anna Scher theatre school, and reportedly once had a crush on Linda.
(Image: TV Times/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
She went on to attend Shelburne Secondary School for Girls in Islington before landing her first on-screen appearance in the 1970 film Junket 89, where she starred alongside Pauline.
Linda then starred in the second series of BBC’s Survivors in 1976, before appearing in pal Pauline’s drama series The Crezz.
With a few other low profile roles and acting credits under her belt, she then went on to star in S, a British comedy drama television series.
Birds of a Feather stint and Pauline Quirke friendship
(Image: TV Times/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Linda played one of the main protagonists in the BBC sitcom, Birds of a Feather.
Portraying the role of Tracey Stubbs, Linda starred alongside the two other main characters played by longtime friend Pauline Quirke and Lesley Joseph. The sitcom lasted from 1989 until 1998.
In 2013, it was announced that Birds of a Feather was to return for a tenth series, this time airing on ITV.
(Image: Getty Images)
The show returned in a revamped way in January 2014 to an audience of over 8 million.
It then returned again for an eleventh series on Boxing Day in December 2014. Months later it was announced that ITV had commissioned a third revived series – twelfth overall – which began airing in January 2016.
A 2020 special was filmed for Christmas but without Pauline Quirke, as she retired from acting to put efforts in to other works.
Loose Women and other TV work
(Image: ITV)
Aside from Birds of a Feather, Linda has appeared in programmes like The Bill, Crossroads, Jobs for Girls and Grumpy Old Women Live.
In July 2008, Linda competed on Celebrity MasterChef, but was eliminated after the first round.
She has also starred in Casualty, as well as coming 9th in the 2012 series of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me out Of Here!
In August 2003, Linda starred on Loose Women for the very first time – an occasion which marked her long and successful career with the show. After her first appearance, she was brought back as a guest panellist in December 2010, before returning as an occasional panellist from November 2011.
Linda became a regular fixture on the show from June 2012, and continued appearing on the show regularly until December 2018 when she took a period of leave due to sickness, but returned in January 2020.
Marriage troubles and OCD struggle
(Image: WireImage)
Linda admitted earlier this year that she nearly split up with her husband Mark Dunford after struggling with her social media addiction.
The 63-year-old returned to the ITV show after a year-long break in January 2020 after being hospitalised because of her ‘severe OCD’.
While suffering from OCD, she also battled a social media obsession where she feared the use of her phone.
Back in July 2021, Linda appeared on the Loose Women panel where she discussed her OCD struggle and how it almost caused her to split with her husband who she wed back in 1990.
The Loose Women panelists discussed whether it was time to take back control of kids’ social media amid fears over mental health.
Linda said: “It is really addictive. I was addicted to social media, do you remember?”
Nadia exclaimed: “You were the worst!”
“I wouldn’t go anywhere without my phone. I’d wake up in the middle of the night and be looking at social media . I mean, it nearly ended my marriage because we’d be sitting watching a film and I’d be on my phone.
“He [would] be like, ‘Are you going to watch with me or not?’ and then he’d go out.”
Modern London pad
Linda lives in a gorgeous London home with her husband Mark Dunford.
The pad features modern appliances and a huge wooden table, wooden flooring, and a large garden.
Her children have flown the nest, which means her home is spacious and airy – perfect for family gatherings, sleepovers with her grandchildren and hosting lavish dinner parties.
In 2021, while appearing on Loose Women, Linda Robson said she would ‘happily’ take a migrant family into her spacious London home.
Linda, 63, said: “There must be lots of people like me, my children have moved out and I’m going to have room in my house.
“I would quite happily take a family in. A family that has children the same age as my grandchildren. They can grow up together, maybe get them into their school.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
