Dame Joan Collins says she would receive "bags of hate mail" if Dynasty aired today, even though she believes her character Alexis Colby was "ahead of her time" when the soap opera debuted in the 1980s.
The 93-year-old actress made the comments in her first ever podcast appearance, on the launch episode of Shooting Star Unwrapped, the official podcast of Shooting Star Children's Hospices.
Dynasty ran on American television through the 1980s and turned Collins into one of the decade's biggest stars. The show followed the bitter rivalry between her character, Alexis Colby, and Krystle Carrington, the new wife of Alexis's ex-husband, and became one of the era's biggest television hits. Collins was appointed a Dame in 1997 in recognition of her services to the entertainment industry.
Joan Collins on Alexis Colby
Collins said she had always liked the divisive character, despite her flaws.
"I think she was very ahead of her time, a woman who knew exactly what she wanted and didn't care who she hurt to get it," she said. "Not quite a perfect person, but it worked for the character, and I liked her very much, even though a lot of people hated her."
"Thank God we're not showing that show today, I'd get so much hate mail," she added.
Joan Collins and husband Percy Gibson
Collins, who has been married five times, met her current husband, film producer Percy Gibson, 61, in 2000 while appearing in a touring production of the play Love Letters in the United States. The couple married two years later, in 2002. Love Letters, written by the American playwright A.R. Gurney, is a two-character play told through the letters exchanged between its leads over a lifelong friendship.
"We met at the beginning of this century, a quarter of a century ago, when we were working together on a show in San Francisco," she said. "I liked him immediately, he was so hardworking, clever and knowledgeable about the theatre, and very kind, and good-looking too."
"We married less than two years later, and we've been together most of this century, which is extraordinary in showbusiness, because marriages don't tend to last here, but ours is pretty solid, touch wood," she said.
Collins said the pair still have "little spats and arguments" but ultimately like and love each other.
"It's so important to like your partner, so many people go into relationships on the crest of lust, and when that disintegrates, there's nothing left," she said.
Family life
Collins said she and Gibson have a "core together" and praised him for being "so wonderful" with her children and grandchildren. She said he spends a great deal of time with them, calling him "endlessly patient, and just a super, kind, wonderful human being."
Donation to Shooting Star Children's Hospices
Alongside giving her first podcast interview to the charity, Collins donated a Valentino clutch bag that was given to her by the designer Valentino Garavani himself.
"It's called a minaudiere, a little handbag that was given to me, actually, by Mr Valentino himself," she said. "It's in the shape of a shell, it goes into your hand, and it's absolutely gorgeous."
Shooting Star Children's Hospices supports children with life-limiting conditions and their families. Its new podcast, Shooting Star Unwrapped, is available on all major podcast platforms, with items donated by guests available to bid on through the charity's Virtual Charity Shop.
The podcast is released every two weeks. Other celebrities taking part include Brenda Blethyn OBE, Tony Hadley MBE, Philip Glenister MBE and Michael Ball, all of whom have also donated items for auction.
