FAKING an orgasm in front of thousands of people was initially, she admits, a daunting task for celebrity Gaby Roslin.

She's being doing it night after night for the last nine weeks. Not because she has acquired a poorly-skilled lover, but because she is starring in the play When Harry Met Sally.

Meg Ryan shot to fame thanks to the legendary scene in the movie that became a massive Academy Awar-winning hit.

And it was Ryan's success that made Roslin a little apprehensive about taking on the role in the play which will be at Malvern Theatres from Monday, July 11.

"It was quite an overwhelming prospect to try to judge people's views of Meg Ryan," said 40-year-old Roslin, who stars opposite Jonathan Wrather - scheming Joe Carter in Coronation Street.

And faking it didn't come naturally. "When we were rehearsing I was so embarrassed," she said. "I used to sit in this room with just Jonathan and the director, saying 'I can't do it'.

"But as soon as we started it for real I completely lost my inhibitions and now the orgasm is getting longer and longer every night. The audiences love it."

Acting is not something you immediately associate with Roslin, who is probably better known for television presenting.

And according to the national tabloids, her TV career seems to have hit a rocky patch. She's reportedly been dumped from Children In Need, her daytime Channel 5 talk show with Terry Wogan was axed and Natasha Kaplinsky usurped her in the search for Britain's Eurovision hopeful.

And her West End debut in 2002 as Mama Morton in Chicago also received a savaging from critics.

But Roslin, who originally trained as an actress, is undeterred.

"It's nice to go back to my roots," she said. "Theatre's my first love."

But getting on to the subject of Roslin's love life quickly turned the actress's mood from jubilance to feisty anger.

Separated from her husband Colin Peel last year, Roslin was quick to point out: "I don't discuss my personal life," and abruptly the interview came to an end.

Well you never know, she could find happiness on the Malvern Hills.

FOR TICKETS TO WHEN HARRY MET SALLY CALL Malvern Theatres

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