Anita Dobson has opened up about the secret to a long lasting marriage having been married to Queen legend Brian May for 25 years. The former EastEnders actress, 76, has enjoyed marital bliss for decades after the happy couple tied the knot in 2000. In a candid new interview the actress had some choice words for those who believe their is a "secret" to any marriage as she delivered a blunt verdict. Anita and Brian met at a film screening in May 1986 - during the height of her EastEnders fame when she played the original Queen Victoria pub landlady Angie Watts. But she admits a marriage can only work if both parties wish to be in each other's lives.

"There is no secret," she told Best magazine. "You either stay together because you want to, or if you don't like it, you get out." Anita continued: "That's it - stay or go, because some people would put up with stuff, other people would just leave - it's up to you."

"If you love the man, and it's worth staying, then stay," she added. "That's it, that's the bottom line."

Anita addressed the pair's home life after they quit London for Surrey when their home in the capital got flooded in July 2021.

While the Queen guitarist adapted to quickly to their new surroundings, Anita admitted it took the city girl a while to get settled.

She explained: "Brian is in clover - he absolutely loves it.

"He lives more in the garden than he does in the house. He loves the animals, the flowers, the trees, everything. We've got a very big garden.

"For me, it's been an adjustment because I'm a city girl born and bred, and there's always going to be a bit of the city in me, but when the weather is like this, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else - where we live, but it's lovely to come up to town now and again and have a bit of fun."

Brian was first married to Christine but the pair separated shortly before the death of his bandmate and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.

The guitarist admitted he already met his second wife before his marriage split as he and Anita had met back in 1986.

Anita, who has been engaged four times before marrying Brian, tied the knot in a small register office ceremony in Richmond upon Thames in 2000.

They honeymooned in Venice where the couple return each year.