Cate Woods – Ten Things You Should Know About Me

2. I once spent six months in Mary Berry's kitchen. I was lucky enough to work with Mary on her autobiography, Recipe For Life, and every week I'd sit at her kitchen table while she pottered around preparing lunch and telling me about her life. She would often be testing out recipes for a new book and would send me home with parcels of chocolate tart or salmon roulade. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence that my now-husband proposed to me during this time.

3. I am a massive lightweight. I enjoy drinking, but it makes me feel terrible. An acupuncturist once told me that one of the detoxification channels of my liver was blocked, and this is now my go-to excuse for leaving parties early. My husband calls me 'One-Drink Woodsy'.

4. A day doesn't pass without me complaining about my hair. I used to straighten it, but after having children I realised that the hour a day I spent blow-drying could probably be more usefully employed. I wouldn't mind if I had an amazing afro, but my curls are so flat and limp that I get through a can of Batiste volumising dry shampoo a month trying to give it some oomph. I frequently consider wigs.

5. I have two children, a one-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter, who I generally refer to as 'The Dragons' because I would like to be known as 'Mother of Dragons'. My inner geek is strong: I love Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, even Harry Potter - anything with magic, leather jerkins and ogres. I dream of writing fantasy books, but they would end up being crap Tolkein knock-offs.

6. I am an unbearable coffee snob. When I hear someone ordering a large weak vanilla latte I have to stop myself shouting: 'just have a milkshake and be done with it.'

7. I love giving birth. I was lucky enough to have a home-birth with my son and it was the most incredible experience. Hard work and not without pain, true, but afterwards I felt like superwoman. I do realise that I was very fortunate and that not everyone has such an easy ride, but there is so much negative press surrounding birth that I'm evangelical about letting people know how great it can be. Having said that, I find motherhood extremely hard.

8. I plan to spend my retirement travelling the world. My most memorable trip to date was the three weeks I spent hiking in Tibet, a place so otherworldly it was as if it was dreamt up by Hollywood set designers - although I'm still haunted by the toilets and the yak's cheese. You'd have thought Spielberg would have insisted on a decent flush mechanism.

9. I'm not much of a Michael Bublé fan. I originally had a running joke in Just Haven't Met You Yet about Peter Andre, but there was a concern that he wasn't quite famous enough if the book was ever sold to other countries, so he was replaced by Bublé, hence the title.

10. I have recently realised that as you get older you really do get wiser. It's a wonderful prospect and consolation for all the sagging.