From today's Teletext:

The Bill star Roberta Taylor admits she was hesitant about her screen character Inspector Gina Gold's new Sun Hill romance.

Roberta, 55, who's played no-nonsense Gina for nearly two years, is about to be wooed by dashing Crown Prosecution lawyer Jonathan Fox (Larry Lamb).

She tells TV Plus: "I've been avoiding romantic plots since I joined as I always think there is a danger that they will become very soppy. Fortunately, there is nothing soppy about her new fella."

Battleaxe Gina, will fall for Fox in the coming weeks and Roberta says: "Larry and I pucker up but a lot of the romance is told in the way they look at each other. That's good as I find a lot of love scenes on TV don't look realistic."

So there will be no steamy romps between the sheets.

She laughs: "We're on before the 9pm watershed so viewers will have to use their imagination. I don't think getting between the sheets with Gina's new love would look hot anyway. It will be interesting to see how things develop between them."

The 'will they won't they' romance will grip fans of the ITV1 cop drama for at least the next six weeks.

It doesn't start well when Fox takes DS Debbie McAllister for a drink and he and Gina are at loggerheads over PC Kerry Young's claim that Gina's pal, Sgt Dale Smith, raped her.

Roberta says: "Fox is in the show for 12 episodes and his interest in Gina annoys Sun Hill boss Superintendent Adam Okaro, who was the love of Gina's life."

Roberta admits that she's had a problem with on-screen romances since her EastEnders character, Irene Raymond, was given a toyboy.

The actress, who played Irene for three years until 2000, says: "I did have a fight with the writers about it. I hoped I was just going to be the older woman with a guy of 35 but he turned out to be 21! So I insisted that there had to be a maternal side to their affair."

She loves playing her caustic Sun Hill character even though it means she has to smoke for the part.

"I have given up smoking off set. I smoke in character during the week and give up on Fridays.

"What is irritating is that I didn't smoke for more than two years but then I joined EastEnders in 1997 and they wanted my character Irene to smoke so I had to puff away on herbal cigarettes."

She's glad that the public are finally recognising her more as Gina Gold than Irene from EastEnders.

Having played Gina since 2002, she says: "The first year it was all 'Irene' from fans but now they're coming up and saying 'Hello Gina'.

"The nice thing is that more and more people in the street seem to be talking about The Bill. It's getting the same sort of response that EastEnders has been getting over the years."