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Because I grew up with all these memories, I was determined to be the complete opposite. When I left home, I bought all these white clothes and spent ages learning how to wash them. No matter what I was earning, I always had a cleaner who could do all my ironing. And I learnt how to bake fantastic cakes. But despite these little things, I couldn't fault Mum. Not only has she always been there for me, but she's also been my guiding light, my inspiration. Mums don't come any better than that, do they?

SYLVIA: We used to describe Frances like the old nursery rhyme: "When she was good, she was very good, and when she was bad, she was horrid!"

From about the age of 12, she was quite a difficult and demanding child. She had a real teenage temper. Everything we said was totally wrong. At the time, we lived in a very old house in Leytonstone in east London, and it was full of these thick oak doors. I don't think there was one door left which didn't have a split in it from where she'd banged it in one of her tempers.

The temper continued right the way through her teenage years. And it wasn't just at home she caused trouble.

Her school got in touch with me to discuss her absences. At the time, I had no idea, so of course my response was: "What absences? She hasn't been absent at all." But, as I was to find out from their attendance sheets, she had. To be honest, it crossed my mind that their records were actually wrong. I just couldn't believe what they were telling me. What's more, her sister, Alison, went to the same school, but never said a word. Frances later confessed all.

It was around this time that the Sylvia Young Theatre School opened up. Frances was 15. Most of the kids who joined us in that first year came from the part-time drama school I'd been running. Many of them were Frances's friends, and because of that she became a pupil at the new school too. But it became clear very quickly that she couldn't accept that I was the headmistress. And as a result, she was terrible in front of me. In the end it was impossible, and she only stayed with us for one term.

Frances left school at 16, and it was at that stage I finally said to her: "You can go where you like and do what you like, as long as you phone me and let me know where you are." And from then, I couldn't believe it! There was this total turnaround. Once she'd been given all this freedom, she actually became far more mature. Life with her became so much easier. Had I known this would happen, I might have given her this kind of freedom far sooner.

Having sung and acted since she was three — I think she was the youngest person in the country to get an Equity card — it was no surprise that Frances would want to perform on stage once she'd finished school. Sure enough, her professional career kicked off when she was 16 and she got a part in a national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She then went from one production to the next and was still only a teenager when Andrew Lloyd Webber cast her in Starlight Express.

When she won a Tony for Les Misèrables on Broadway, we were so proud of her. It was terribly special. She really was the toast of New York, with loads of big offers coming in — and she was only 21. That's when she fell pregnant with her first child. It was a bit of a shock at the time, but we wouldn't have been without her for the world. Her baby girl, Eliza, was a wonderful gift and Frances just put everything else on hold.

When she finally got back on track, though, the same thing happened again. She was in a production with Ian Dury at the Royal Court theatre and she got pregnant with her second child, Nat. Then, when it happened the third time round and she got pregnant with Felix, she'd just signed a deal with Virgin to record an album. Unlike today, when pop stars are only too pleased to show off their tummies, it wasn't at all acceptable back then, so that deal fell through.

But at the end of the day, she has got three beautiful children, and every time she has bounced back.

I was delighted when she told me she was back in the West End, with the role of Roxie in Chicago. I rarely say this to her, but she is so talented and so beautiful that it takes nothing at all for her to shine out. And now, I think, she shines out like never before.