Patsy Stone claimed she had not eaten since 1973

A vegetarian, she says she keeps trim through doing things 'with vigour'

The Absolutely Fabulous actress has also revealed she never exercises

Her legendary character from Absolutely Fabulous once proclaimed that she hadn’t eaten a thing since 1973.

And now Joanna Lumley seems to have taken a leaf out of Patsy Stone’s book – by giving up meals.

Joanna no longer takes breakfast, lunch or dinner and, to maintain her slim figure, survives on nothing more than the odd savoury snack.

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Joanna Lumley seems to have taken a leaf out of her charachter Patsy Stone’s book – by giving up meals

Speaking exclusively to The Mail on Sunday, Joanna, 68, revealed: ‘I don’t eat any meals. I eat a bit throughout the day if I’m hungry, but not a big meal.

‘I’ll have some nuts or maybe some crisps and that’s enough.’

Joanna freely admits to being immensely similar to her alter ego Patsy, whom she has described as a ‘cartoon version’ of herself.

Like Patsy, she became a dedicated smoker during her modelling heyday in the 1960s and still battles the habit, which is a well-known appetite suppressant.

And at parties she prefers champagne to canapes – she passed on the nibbles as she enjoyed a glass of bubbly at a reception in honour of Grange Park Opera at Fortnum & Mason last month, which she attended with her conductor husband Stephen Barlow.

She doesn’t exercise, and has said that being a vegetarian – and just keeping busy – helps her stay trim.

The Great Comic Relief Bake Off: Jennifer Saunders, Dame Edna Everage, Lulu, Joanna Lumley

‘I don’t go to gyms, but I do rush about. I do stuff with vigour, such as housework, gardening and going up the stairs two at a time.

‘I’m full of energy and never ill, and I haven’t eaten meat for 40 years. It’s no coincidence.’

Despite her aversion to food, Joanna spent a day surrounded by it when she reunited with her Ab Fab co-star Jennifer Saunders, who played Patsy’s fad-dieting friend Edwina, to film a Comic Relief version of The Great British Bake Off.

It will be broadcast on Wednesday, but Joanna admitted her lack of interest in food makes her a terrible cook and a worse baker.

‘I have no idea how to cook because I don’t eat,’ she confessed. ‘I hate cake. I don’t remember the last time I ate a cake. I don’t like desserts and I don’t like anything sweet.’

Joanna and Jennifer will ‘Bake Off’ against singer Lulu – another Ab Fab regular – and Barry Humphries who will cook in full costume as Dame Edna Everage.

Three more episodes of Celebrity Bake Off, featuring Jonathan Ross, Abbey Clancy, Alexa Chung, Victoria Wood, Chris Moyles, and YouTube blogger Zoella, will be broadcast in the following weeks.

Then the contestants with the highest score from each episode will compete against each other for the Comic Relief Star Baker crown on Red Nose Day itself – March 13.

Joanna admits that her baking efforts didn’t overly impress long-serving judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry.

She says: ‘I’m dreading the Bake Off for Red Nose Day being broadcast – I’ll be exposed. The public will see that I am a disaster. We’ve filmed it already.