Martine McCutcheon has said people have become “kinder” during the coronavirus pandemic.
The actress and singer, 44, suggested people had previously been “spoilt” by the opportunities of modern life.
McCutcheon, who has been diagnosed with Lyme disease and chronic fatigue syndrome ME, lives with her husband Jack McManus and their five-year-old son Rafferty in Surrey.
She told Hello! magazine: “If you have any underlying illness you can’t take risks. As with any chronic condition you can have flare-ups. When I go outside I always have my mask and my gloves and take it very seriously.
“I have been really good emotionally for a long time and I have felt a lot calmer. It has been good to realise it is okay to do things at your own pace.
“Life is so fast that there never seems to be time. Now there is this new togetherness, even with social distancing.
“People have become a lot kinder than they have been for a long time.
“I think we have become a little bit of a spoilt generation. We had the world literally at the touch of our fingertips.
“Now we have learnt that we need to be grateful for small things, to check in with people and to slow down.”
McCutcheon and her family have been working on new music in their studio, which is in an outbuilding in their garden.
Speaking about being a mother, she said: “I am really happy with my lot. I always said if I am blessed with a child I will be so grateful.
“Rafferty takes some topping – he is an amazing kid. We are like the Three Musketeers.”
Read the full interview in Hello! magazine, out now.