{"id":840409,"date":"2026-08-01T13:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T13:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/840409\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T13:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T13:07:09","slug":"fiona-allen-the-closest-ive-come-to-death-a-trip-in-a-black-cab-with-john-worboys-i-had-a-lucky-escape-life-and-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/840409\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiona Allen: \u2018The closest I\u2019ve come to death? A trip in a black cab with John Worboys. I had a lucky escape\u2019 | Life and style"},"content":{"rendered":"

Born in Lancashire, Fiona Allen, 61, went to drama school in Salford. From 1999, she co-wrote and starred in the Emmy-winning and Bafta-nominated TV sketch show Smack the Pony. She had roles in Shameless, Skins, Waterloo Road and EastEnders, and her films include 24 Hour Party People, Fat Slags, Gladiatress and Finding Emily. In 2023, she took her show On the Run to the Edinburgh festival fringe and later toured the UK. This year, she performs White Lies at Edinburgh\u2019s Gilded Balloon Teviot<\/a> from 5 to 29 August. She is married with three children and lives in Berkshire.<\/p>\n

What is your greatest fear?
My kids navigating the world as it is today \u2013 and daddy longlegs.<\/p>\n

What is your earliest memory?
Nursery. I must have been about three. This little boy and me got these trikes and we went round and round, laughing. And then he went down the slide headfirst and I thought: \u201cMy hero.\u201d We had a blast, but then they split us up and we weren\u2019t allowed to play with each other.<\/p>\n

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Coldness, selfishness.<\/p>\n

Aside from a property, what\u2019s the most expensive thing you\u2019ve bought?
A sports car. I was in my 20s; I\u2019d fallen out with my boyfriend, so to cheer myself up I got myself a little silver and black Mazda and a matching jumper and jacket. And do you know what, it worked. I saw him do a double take.<\/p>\n

What is your most treasured possession?
A little dibber from my dad that was from his grandad, a jewellery box from my mum, and my olive trees.<\/p>\n

Describe yourself in three words
Passionate, gobby, flabby.<\/p>\n

What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My resting face, because people say: \u201cDon\u2019t worry, it might never happen.\u201d And I think: \u201cWhat? I\u2019m really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is your most unappealing habit?
I\u2019m like an excitable puppy when I\u2019m chatting, and I butt in.<\/p>\n

What is the worst thing anyone\u2019s said to you?
The second agent I had said: \u201cThe thing is, you look like something but then you open your mouth.\u201d So I got myself a sketch show and left, and she lost out.<\/p>\n

What do you owe your parents?
So many apologies.<\/p>\n

What did you dream about last night?
I was Boudicca driving a chariot into Waitrose car park.<\/p>\n

If not yourself, who would you most like to be?
My cockapoo, Herbert. He has a great, carefree life and tremendous eyelashes.<\/p>\n

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My dog \u2013 sorry, my family.<\/p>\n

Which living person do you most despise, and why?
Amoral tech bros.<\/p>\n

What is the closest you\u2019ve come to death?
I think I had a close shave with the taxi driver John Worboys. I was in Soho and going back to Chiswick where I lived, and I got a black cab. This guy wouldn\u2019t stop talking and he offered me champagne, and I said: \u201cI don\u2019t like champagne.\u201d It went a bit quiet and I thought I\u2019d offended him. Then I remember going: \u201cHang on a minute, you shouldn\u2019t be drinking champagne if you\u2019re driving.\u201d And he said: \u201cI\u2019ve just won the lottery and I\u2019m finished after this.\u201d I had a lucky escape.<\/p>\n

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Growing three brains.<\/p>\n

How would you like to be remembered?
She was surprisingly good at the harpsichord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Born in Lancashire, Fiona Allen, 61, went to drama school in Salford. From 1999, she co-wrote and starred…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,75],"class_list":["post-840409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}