Sheila Hancock is 'glad' she doesn’t have to 'bother' trying to 'please men' anymore

Dame Sheila Hancock is “glad” she doesn’t have to “bother” having sex anymore.

The ‘Bedtime’ star - whose second husband John Thaw died in 2002 - thinks getting frisky between the sheets is a “hassle” and is happy that she’s lost the desire “to please men”.

While chatting about the topic with comedian Jo Brand - who asked her about potentially getting herself a “young one” - the 89-year-old actress said: “Who would bother. No, I am quite glad. I really am.”

According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, Sheila added: “I mean it’s such a hassle, all that trying to please men.

“I don’t have to bother with that any more. I do my own thing. No, I have got better things to do with my money … chocolate!”

While appearing on stage together as part of 'Sheila’s Old Rage' tour at Richmond Theatre in London, the Olivier Award winner mused she “can’t pretend” that she doesn’t ponder dying frequently.

She said: “I can’t pretend I don’t think about death a lot. I belong to a book club, it was our 20th anniversary, and one of them said, ‘Here’s to our next 10!’

“I thought: ‘Are you sure about that?' Inevitably, you do think you are getting closer and closer to it ... as for what happens next, I can’t be bothered to worry about it."

Sheila - who has two actress daughters, Melanie Thaw, 57, and Joanna Thaw, 47, with late husband John - quipped: “I will probably go and meet all the people I loathe.”

Last month, the theatre legend admitted she felt still working is the key to how she’s stayed so vibrant.

She said: “I do feel that work keeps me going but I also wish that wasn’t the case. I wish I wasn’t obsessionally work-oriented; that I didn’t feel guilty when I don’t work, or that my life is over. If I have a day in my diary when nothing’s happening, I’ll think ‘Oh, lovely’ until I wake up. Then I feel frightened.”