Sometimes Twitter exposes a rare gem; a person we wouldn’t have met under any other circumstances.  This is certainly the case for Mrs Stephen Fry.  Mrs Fry (or Edna as she’s known to her friends) has been entertaining us for some time now with hilarious tweets about her life as down-trodden wife of Stephen Fry.

Having five, six or even seven children (she never seems to be too sure how many), Mrs Fry always has plenty to tweet about.  She recently told us:

“I’d better make some sandwiches – the kids will be home soon.  I don’t like facing them on an empty stomach.”

On 15th October, Twitter was home to a huge event, when  Mrs Fry hosted a virtual launch for her new book, Mrs Fry’s Diary.  The hilarious book takes us through a year in the life of an unwitting celebrity wife; exposing the truth about Stephen’s secret double life.

I chatted to Mrs Fry during the week and found her to be charming, obliging and only a little bit frazzled.  Despite her busyness, trying to juggle her newfound author status with the demands of her large family, she agreed to answer a few questions for me.

Darling Mrs Fry, how lovely of you to take time out of your busy schedule to talk to us here at hellomagazine.com!  And may I call you Edna?

Of course you may, dear.  It makes a change from what Stephen generally calls me – the old ball and chain.  Or after a night in the Red Lion; toots!

Edna, for those who didn’t realise that the lovely Stephen Fry had a wife, can you explain how you two met?

I’d like to say it was unforgettable, dear, but sadly Stephen doesn’t remember any of it.  He hasn’t got the best memory in the world but twelve pints of Stella and half a bottle of Tia Maria probably didn’t help.  On the other hand, I thought it was the most wonderful night of my life – although the other half a bottle of Tia Maria might explain that.  

You often refer to your ‘two’ adorable children – so where do the others fit in?  I believe you have six now?  Or is it seven?

I may have been exaggerating a little when I said two, dear.  Perhaps one is adorable – or at least it is until it learns to speak.  I’m reasonably sure we have seven altogether and they don’t fit into our small end-of-terrace at all well, to be truthful.  If it wasn’t for Social Services taking a few off our hands on a rota basis, we’d probably have to convert Stephen’s shed.  And the bins.

Gosh, and even with all that going on, you still manage to look fabulous all the time.  How do you manage it?

It’s the tea, dear.  And the hats.  And, of course, Stephen regularly gives me a healthy glow!

And as well as being a pretty face, I understand you’re a bit of a goddess in the kitchen.  I know you and Stephen love a bit of spam, but where does the inspiration for all your lovely recipes come from?

You can’t spend as much time bent over the kitchen table as I do without picking up a thing or two, dear.  It’s a sort of gift.  That’s one of the reasons why I finally agreed to publication of my diary – so I can share my delicious recipes with the world.  I like to think that, before long, my Spam Rumpy Pumpy will be sitting proudly on millions of plates across the globe.

I don’t want to upset you, Edna, but do you think Stephen really appreciates you?   I really feel your pain when you tweet that he hasn’t arrived home for tea but has instead gone for one of his… em… meetings with another glamorous woman.

Of course he doesn’t appreciate me, dear – he’s a man.  Besides, he’s too busy with her at number thirty-eight.  Not that I’d call her glamorous, exactly - more brazen.  With a touch of bovril.

Speaking of Twitter, you’ve become a bit of a Twitter sensation, gaining over 70,000 followers.  Why do you think you’re so popular?

I have no idea, dear.  After all, I’m just a normal, run-of-the-mill, extraordinarily beautiful and talented housewife.

And what do you love most about Twitter?

The opportunity to share my wisdom with those less fortunate, which is pretty much everyone on there as far as I can tell.  And the chance to put people to right about my Stephen – honestly, the things he writes on there.  What an imagination!

And what does your Stephen think about you being on Twitter?  Does he mind that you’re so vocal about his whereabouts and his bad habits?

Stephen’s far too busy with his kebabs and karaoke to give a thought to what I’m doing, dear.  Besides, he has enough trouble reading the cooking instructions on his Pop Tarts.

Now Edna, I’ve read your book, Mrs Fry’s Diary, and it’s absolutely hilarious but very revealing.  Why did you feel the need to publish something so private? 

I didn’t, dear.  It must have fallen out of my handbag on the bus and before I knew it, someone was offering to publish it – I can’t imagine why.  After all, it’s just your average recipe-packed, poetry-filled, high-octane, emotional rollercoaster of a diary. 

And I see your Stephen has written the foreword to the book.  So can I assume he’s… ahem… right behind you with it?

I allowed Stephen to write the foreword because I feel it’s important to encourage him - plus it stops him writing on the dining room wall!

Mrs Fry’s Diary is published by Hodder and Stoughton, priced £9.99; you can follow her on Twitter here.

We live in a world of shocking celebrity revelations, many of which we hear about first through a tweet.  Whether it’s a split or an affair, an arrest or a confession, it seems there’s always something to shock or sadden us.

So being a ‘glass half full’ sort of girl, I’m not going to tell you about any of those things – well not yet anyway! In keeping with today’s rare appearance of sun in Dublin, I’d like to talk about two of my favourite rays of sunshine on Twitter – TV presenters, the beautiful Angellica Bell (@angellicabell) and her equally gorgeous fiancé, Michael Underwood (@mikeyunderwood).

                                Photo by Ray Burmiston 

In my opinion, Angellica and Michael epitomise all that’s good about celebrities on Twitter.  Friends for eleven years, we finally saw them step out (do people still say that?) as a couple two and a half years ago.  In fact only the other day, Angellica, who has more than 10,000 followers, delighted us with a tweet that said:

“Had a break from filming n @mikeyunderwood came up to northampton to see me! We have just ordered our wedding bands! *she gulps* #commitment”. 

And almost immediately, fans were treated to Michael’s response to that which was:

“And it seems that diamonds really are a girl’s best friend!”

Another spate of tweets that endeared the couple to us happened on a recent Saturday morning.  It seems their… em… sleep was disturbed by builders letting themselves in to the house. Angellica tweeted:

“Hw can builders let themselves in unannounced?! Thought they were burglars! Was polite bt firm – nt their fault. The boss will get it! Ha!”

And minutes later from Michael:

“I love @angellicabell! These builders are wishing they had taken the weekend off. You go girl.”

Okay, so the builders arriving is hardly ‘News at Ten’ stuff, but it’s that sort of banter that makes us smile and proves to us that even celebrities wash behind their ears.

I chatted to Angellica the other day and asked her what it is about Twitter that she loves.  She said she was sceptical at first, unsure about how much of her personal life to reveal but soon learned that just being herself was the best way to go.  She told me:

“Being on Twitter and having Michael on there is funny! I know what he’s up to and we’ve even had twitter bickering matches and our followers get involved too!  At the end of the day I may work on television but I have a very normal life and do the same things as everyone. On twitter everyone is on the same level.”

Michael too was sceptical but soon came to realise how powerful and addictive Twitter can be.  He told me:

“What I really like about it is that I can share those random thoughts or funny moments I have in everyday life; whether on a train or holidaying in Australia.  It allows me to keep up with what industry friends and colleagues are doing.  Angellica and I have a great time on it as well, although we occasionally end up winding each other up or bickering in front of thousands of our Twitter friends.”

Michael writes a movie blog and he says twitter is a great way to promote it.  With over 18,000 followers, a single tweet from him about a new post and thousands flock to have a look.

Angellica and Michael haven’t set a date for their wedding yet but no doubt we’ll hear it on Twitter.  I wonder will Angellica have a secret pocket made in her wedding dress for her blackberry so we can have live tweets. Let’s hope so!