Separate Houses: Secret of Anita Dobson & Brian May’s wedded bliss

SUNDAY EXPRESS
02 March 2014 by Adam Helliker

The secret of a happy relationship? There’s no question in the view of Anita Dobson, who has been married for 14 years to Queen guitarist Brian May.

Separate houses,” declares Anita, 64, explaining that while she adores living in London, where she was born in the East End, Brian prefers the calm of Surrey, where he has a large house with an observatory in its grounds.

“We like being with each other but we also like different surroundings,” she tells me. “I just have to be on a busy street with lots of things going on, while Brian prefers the country.”

Their choice of environment is, of course, not the only difference between the two. Anita, best known as Dirty Den’s wife Angie in EastEnders, admits she struggles to keep up with Brian’s passion for astronomy (he has a PHD in astrophysics).

“Once he gets going you really have to keep up. I just go as far as I can with him and then I say, ‘Would you like a cup of tea?'”