Rita Simons' 'EastEnders' character forces her to stay in shape.

The soap actress said she is very careful to exercise three times a week and eat properly because she wants to look good in the sexy costumes she has to wear for her bad girl character Roxy Mitchell.

Rita said: "Roxy's outfits are way too revealing for me to let anything go!"

She added her husband, Theo, doesn't get upset by all the attention she receives from fans as one of the BBC soap's sirens, because he is also gets plenty of female attention.

She added: "He doesn't get jealous. He's a hairdresser and he's spent his life working with women, so I'm used to him getting female attention."

Rita also talked about her ambitions to star in a gangster film, which is a dream she'd like to fulfil if she left the soap.

She said: "It would have to be an English gangster flick though, like 'Lock, Stock... and Two Smoking Barrels'."