Dame Joan Collins felt like she was ‘in jail’ during the UK lockdown.
The 88-year-old actress spent the early months of the coronavirus pandemic in London but as soon as international travel was permitted, she relocated to France with her husband Percy Gibson because she felt so frustrated.
She said: ‘I was in London for most of the time. But after the three-month period from March 2020, I went to the south of France, as I have a house there.
Trapped: Dame Joan Collins, 88, felt like she was ‘in jail’ during the UK lockdown before jetting to the south of France three months later in June 2020 to her lavish home
‘I found London difficult because I felt like I was in jail, not knowing when I was going to get out.’
Joan spent a ‘ridiculous’ amount of time watching TV and admitted she gained weight because there was nothing to do but eat and drink.
She said: ‘Of course I was [in tracksuits] weren’t we all? I gained about half a stone. I was eating as much as possible because aside from drinking bottles of wine and polishing off chocolates – what else was there to do?
Loved-up: As soon as international travel was permitted, she relocated to France with her husband Percy Gibson, 56, because she felt so frustrated
‘I also watched endless television – it was ridiculous. I watched nine hours one day.
‘I would watch the morning programmes and read all the papers, so that would take me up to lunchtime.’
Despite her frustration with lockdown, the Dynasty legend thinks she has a ‘happy gene’ because not much gets her down.
Stuck in a rut? The star said she drank wine and ate chocolate while shut away while waiting to return to normal life
She said in a recent interview: ‘I believe I was born with this gene of exuberance and excitement.
‘I wake up every morning and get enthusiastic about my first cup of coffee and the newspapers.
‘I get upset when I look at the news sometimes, but I’m very lucky I don’t suffer from depression or much sadness.
‘I have the happy gene – it’s just something that’s inbuilt.’
Screen star: Dame Joan is perhaps most well known for starring in eighties US soap Dynasty
