Fay Ripley is busy. She's in the middle of getting her hair done for a daytime TV chat show, is about to have her second baby, and is recovering from a self-inflicted black eye. And, characteristically, she's on bubbling top form and full of beans.

Actually, truth be told, she's far more likely to be full of 'rubbish sweeties', which have been her 'desperate craving' during her pregnancy.

Fay laughs and admits: 'It's crazy, isn't it? Every time I've been out and we've passed a market stall selling those really vile-coloured sweets, I've had to buy a bag full and munch through them!'

Which can't have been a happy sight for her daughter Parker, who is four at the end of this month? 'You're probably right', chuckles Faye, 'but I'm afraid that I've been a bit naughty. I've been making sure that she eats properly and healthily. She's been given dried apricots and things like that, and I've been telling her that what I've been scoffing is called "broccoli", and that it is very good for Mummy! She's been convinced. So far. But that doesn't mean that I feel good about it!'

Pregnancy cravings

But, reveals Fay, 'I've also had cravings for other food as well. No, to be honest, make that all food. Nothing specific, just anything at all. But it hasn't been as bad as the last time I was pregnant, with Parker. Then, I developed a strange allergy - I could not tolerate the smell of people's breath. It didn't matter who it was, or where the smell came from, I just found the slightest whiff totally repugnant. I would wince and find it repulsive - isn't that bizarre? If I was out driving in the car, I'd have to have all the windows open, no matter what the weather conditions were. I couldn't explain any of it to anyone, because I would have insulted people. I just had to excuse myself by saying that I wanted to gulp in all the fresh air!'

'The smell of coffee turned me off as well - oh, and the smell and taste of Champagne too. Not that we encounter that very often - or that I've ever been over-fond of it anyway! Things haven't been quite so bad, second time around.'

Yes, says Fay (who is married to the Australian actor Daniel Lapaine) she does indeed know what the new baby is going to be 'but I'd rather keep that to myself, Dan and Parker, if you don't mind. We've told Parker because a very sensible book we read said that it was a good move to involve the first child as much as possible in the arrival of the second. So Parker has been talking to 'Baby X', knows all about her new sister (or brother!) and is fully aware of what is going on.'

'I think that I'm going to get back to work pretty quickly after the arrival, this time - I feel more adjusted, and it's what I want to do.'

So will Dan be there for the birth of his second child?
'Good grief, I certainly hope so,' laughs Fay, 'but he's in a new play at the Royal Court in London, at the moment, called "Scenes from the Back of Beyond", and I'm just hoping that the management there are going to be sympathetic when I make the phone call to him, and I yell "Get your backside down here, baby is on its way!"'

Finding love

The couple married in 2001, in a romantic ceremony in Italy - but Dan's proposal to his wife to be was a little less rosy. They'd been together for a while (and had worked together in the hit three-part drama 'I Saw You') and they were sitting in 'quite a posh and rather quiet little restaurant' in Spain, 'and he clearly thought that this was the moment, and he popped the question. Which I thought was truly wonderful, as any girl in love would do - and I whipped out my mobile, and I started phoning everyone I could think of with the great news. But the German couple at the table next to us went berserk! They shouted and gesticulated and really made a fuss.'

'Daniel tried his best to calm them down, but that only made matters worse, because they thought that he was arguing with them, not trying to tell them of our "magic moment". Then the penny dropped - there, printed on the menu (and I swear I hadn't noticed it) was the fact that our chosen restaurant specifically banned the use of mobile phones. It was written in Spanish, and I hadn't understood it! Red faces all round!'

A working mum

Fay (who sprang to TV fame playing Jenny Gifford in 'Cold Feet') has, she thinks 'a pretty strong work ethic', and had no second thoughts about working through her second pregnancy. 'None at all. After all, I worked through my first one, when I was carrying Parker, I was making 'Dead Gorgeous', and if I say so myself, I felt pretty confident about it all.'

'The same as when I was making this new piece, 'Bon Voyage', which is a very dark little horror story, rather gothic. We made it in France, and also in Montreal in Canada, and I did it because, firstly, it was a darned good script, and secondly because the director John Fawcett was assigned to it, and I know his reputation with horror-thriller pieces like this - which is superb.'

'I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but I'm playing Linda Holder, a woman who is severely in denial, and the story is about every parent's worst nightmare. She lets her grief, her madness, whatever you'd like to call it, to extremes. She is willing to be party to the terrible things that her husband Simon suggests, because she believes that it will take her own pain away. You do want to lock her up, yes, but I hope that viewers will see that the root of her crime is born out of loss and terrible grief, rather than any real evil intent.'

Find out how Fay coped with pregnancy the first time round: read more

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