Joanna Lumley thinks turning 70 is absolutely fabulous – as she has never minded ageing.

The actress, who had her milestone birthday on May 1, told Good Housekeeping: “Oh look, it doesn’t mean anything to me. All I have ever longed for was to get older – when I was 12 I wanted to be 18, when I was 30 I wanted to be 50. I just adore being 70. You lose your fear.

Joanna Lumley is a fan of being 70
Joanna Lumley is a fan of being 70 (Nicky Johnston)

“There is an obsession with numbers. People say 70 is the new 60 and 60 is the new 20… Why don’t we all quieten down a bit and just get on with it?”

The actress will return as the incorrigible Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, and she has no plans to retire any time soon.
She said: “What I do is so much part of my life – I can’t imagine not working. You can’t predict how you will age or what age will do to you.

Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders starring in Absolutely Fabulous in 2001
Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders starring in Absolutely Fabulous in 2001 (BBC)

“If you find it very hard to walk or remember lines, then you would zero down on that. But you don’t just stop caring about the charity things you do.

“You just go on doing what you can. Keep on doing what you can for as long as you can.”

With the film set for release on July 1, Joanna is gearing up to take her 11-year-old and 12-year-old granddaughters to the film premiere.

Joanna Lumley is back as Patsy
Joanna Lumley is back as Patsy (Nicky Johnston)

The movie will see Patsy back together with her best friend Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders), as well as Edina’s long-suffering daughter Saffron (Julia Sawalha).

Joanna’s grandchildren have been watching old episodes of Absolutely Fabulous in preparation.

The actress said: “They haven’t seen Ab Fab before, and my daughter-in-law is putting them through a crash course so they are not too shocked by their grandmother!

“It’s quite odd for them because Patsy comes wrapped up in my body. They have never seen me being Patsy, so you kind of flinch slightly, but they laugh a lot.

“I think they think we are terrifyingly vile. They just love Saffy, probably because she suffers from these ghastly parents. If you are a little girl you would side with Saffy, who is trying to do her best.”

Joanna Lumley on the cover of Good Housekeeping
Joanna Lumley on the cover of Good Housekeeping (Nicky Johnston)

The full interview appears in the July issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale May 31.