MATT: You play Kate in No Angels. Can you tell us a little more about your character?

KAYE WRAGG: ‘Kate’s a lovely character but she’s messed up in many ways. She’s a great nurse and knows her job really, really well but her personal life is in a quandary. She’s quite innocent in many ways and lives her life by a set of guidelines, which she constantly finds herself battling against, battling against these high morals. I think she realises that sometimes she sets her morals too high. She has to find all these inner struggles and is constantly asking herself, ‘am I doing the right thing?’ She’s got a double life going on being absolutely perfect at work but perhaps a little socially inadequate in her personal life.’

M: How does this social inadequacy affect Kate’s personal life?

KW: ‘Kate’s had a few love interests and there are a few more in the second series. There’s one big incident in the new series where she does fall in love with a patient but unfortunately this is against the rules. For Kate this is a massive thing. Kate decides to discharge this patient so she can have this relationship but in doing so she actually puts her job on the line as she doesn’t carry out all the necessary tests first. But that’s Kate – she falls in love very, very quickly. It’s never a case of ‘love them and leave them’ it’s very much find a guy a guy she likes and then marriage and babies. There’s no such word as ‘casual’ for Kate. It’s all or nothing.’

M: So will Kate ever be able to find her perfect guy?

KW: ‘I’d love Kate to find her perfect man but this guy’s going to have to be able to take on Kate. She’s so neurotic. I think that she needs a few relationships before she can find this perfect man. She needs to be able to do the casual fling thing first because at the moment she’s got too many hang-ups about how love should be ‘perfect’ but in real life no one’s ever ‘perfect’. It doesn’t work that way.’

M: What’s your favourite episode of the new series?

KW: ‘My favourite episode of the new series is the eight, the last one. Kate just finds herself in a bizarre situation that she should have never got herself into. She somehow finds herself at an AA meeting and manages to convince herself that maybe she is an alcoholic…it’s really funny. It was a great story to play as we get to see Kate away from the other girls and away from the ward.’

M: To play Kate did you do any research into nursing?

KW: ‘I didn’t do any research as such. Once we got the job we got taken to a hospital in Manchester and shadowed some nurses working on the wards that the girls in the show work on. It was horrendous. I felt awful. I was staring at really sick people and thinking, ‘I’m just an actor watching how nurses work so I can go and play one on set.’ It just felt awful. The nurses were fantastic. Even though some were working double shifts they always had time to answer our questions. One of them asked, ‘You’re not going to show us shagging in cupboards are you?’ I admitted that there was a bit of that, I didn’t mention that it was my character in the very first episode though!’

M: How does St. Margaret’s match up to regular NHS hospitals?

KW: ‘A real hospital ward isn’t anything like ‘No Angels’ – we deal with heightened reality. I think we do a good job of showing the busiest of NHS wards, there’s always something happening, there are always piles of paperwork. All of the stories in the show are based on real stories but again heightened from reality. All the incidents we see in ‘No Angels’ might happen over 10 years at isolated hospitals throughout the country. The show concentrates more on the four girls’ personal lives.’

M: Speaking of the girls’ personal lives don’t they all go speed-dating in one episode? Is that something you’d ever consider?

KW: ‘I’ve never done speed-dating, I think that it’s a relatively new thing. I thought it was a great idea to do it on the show – you’ve got 4 single girls who go to speed-date. It’s a perfect story! I have never been speed-dating and I would be terrified if I did. I can’t think of anything worst than having to sit next to a complete stranger and having to talk about your personal life. I think once you start doing that you might actually begin to realise that, ‘Yes I am a bit dull aren’t I?’

M: What about placing an ad in a Lonely Heart column? What would Kate write?

KW: ‘I think if Kate was writing in a Lonely Hearts column there would be none of this ‘Good sense of humour’ rubbish! It would have to be ‘sensitive, caring man who wants babies. And loves horses!’ Kate is quite high-maintenance, I think she’d have to be wined and dined.’

M: And what would you, as Kaye, write?

KW: ‘If me as Kaye had to do it it’d be quite shy, not very good at chatting up…oh I don’t know. I mean age doesn’t bother me, I’d put good sense of humour but that’s really dull…’

M: Have you been watching Desperate Housewives? How do you think it compares to Sex In The City?

KW: ‘I love Desperate Housewives at the moment but Sex In The City is my favourite. For me Sex In The City is so much more accessible because you’ve got 4 girls living in the city that bond as friends whilst taking about clothes! Desperate Housewives seems to be more about the individual women as opposed to them as a foursome. Plus Sex In The City is just hilarious! Sex In The City became very personal to me, I just loved all the characters.’

M: Have you got a favourite character?

KW: ‘I really loved Carrie. Every series changed though. When it started I loved Miranda then I moved onto Charlotte…and Samantha’s just great. Everyone wants a mate like Samantha who you can live a more dangerous, wild life though. Carrie is the ultimate all rounder though – she’s witty, she makes you laugh, she makes you cry. She’s always been the backbone of the show.’

M: I’ve heard you’re a bit of a celebrity gossip junkie. So do you think Brad and Jen’ll stay together?

KW: ‘I hope they stay together. Usually you try not to get involved with these sorts of things because you’re reading it all second hand. Things are probably being over dramatised for the press but at the end of the day the only ones who are really going to know what happened are Brad and Jen. I just want them both to be happy.’

M: So what do you think that Kate Moss sees in Pete Doherty?

KW: ‘I can see what Kate sees in Pete Doherty. I see how somebody who’s wild and adventurous in a way that is, shall we say, not safe can be attractive. It’d never be that way for me because I just couldn’t keep up but they’re part of the partying scene so, yeah, I can see the attraction.’

M: Do you think Kylie’s had plastic surgery?

KW: ‘Has Kylie had plastic surgery? I would say the rumour is slightly true…I mean when you get to that age and look as pristine as she does you do wonder how she stays so…wrinkle-free! But she still looks fantastic so good on her. I think it’s only when plastic surgery goes horrible wrong that you’ve got to worry about it. Most people only ever slag it off because they’re jealous or scared of having it done themselves.’

M: Is plastic surgery something you’d ever consider?

KW: ‘I’d be terrified of anything like that plus I’ve got the worst reactionary skin – it I try a different mascara or eye shadow my face just balloons. Just the thought of botox and needles…although if I knew that there would be any skin reactions then yeah, I’d definitely do it. It’s scary for an actress as your face is your job. As my boyfriend says I’ve got a very big forehead, it has it’s own expressions going on. If we were all botoxed we’d all end up looking the same. People need to be individual.’

M: Finally what do you think about Charles and Camilla?

KW: ‘Charles and Camilla – I’m really not interested. I don’t care. I’m not a Royalist; I’m not against it. I don’t care. It doesn’t affect me. I read these stories and think, ‘So what?’ He probably should have married her years ago but because of who he is it wasn’t seen as the right thing to do. But who cares?’