Criss Cross Kelly has the answer

BENEATH that blonde champagne bubble exterior Barbara Kelly has more driving force than a Blue Streak rocket after countdown.

As well as hostessing Criss Cross Quiz, she finds time to cope with the large demanding Braden flat in Knightsbridge and the demanding Braden family. To put the seal on her capabilities. she successfully stepped in for her husband, Bernard Braden, on The Braden Beat when he was on holiday.

But after working-hours, when she gets home and kicks off her shoes, how does Barbara Kelly relax?

When she’s comfortably settled in a chair, putting on a cigarette she’ll probably reach for a science fiction novel. “I love them,” she said. “For their sheer escapism. When I sink into the fantasy world of, say, a Bradbury book, all the cares and concerns of the day seem a million miles away.”

But this Canadian bom actress who arrived in England 17 years ago doesn’t stay idle long.

She’s soon out of that chair, pursuing her latest hobby, painting. Not houses, but pictures. Recently two of her oils were shown in St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square.

Can anything stop this 5ft. 6in. blonde dynamo in her tracks? For a moment I thought so when I mentioned the prospect of her shortly becoming a grandmother. “It’s a bit shattering,” said Barbara, then she shrugged and finished. “But I’m sure I shall get used to it like anything else.”